| The Busiest Man in England: Grant Allen and the Writing Trade, 1875-1900 2005 Edition Contributor(s): Morton, P. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1349529397 ISBN-13: 9781349529391 Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan OUR PRICE: $52.24 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2005 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures - Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh - Literary Criticism | Modern - 19th Century |
| Dewey: B |
| Physical Information: 0.62" H x 6" W x 9" (0.89 lbs) 251 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Chronological Period - 1851-1899 - Cultural Region - British Isles |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book is a critical biography of Grant Allen, (1848-1899), the first for a century, based on all the surviving primary sources. Born in Kingston, Ontario, into a cultured and affluent family, Allen was educated in France and England. A mysterious marriage while he was an Oxford undergraduate wrecked his academic career and radicalized his views on sexual and marital questions, as did a three-year teaching stint in Jamaica. Despite his lifelong ill health and short life, Allen was a writer of extraordinary productivity and range. About half - more than 30 books and many hundreds of articles - reflects interests which ran from Darwinian biology to cultural travel guides. His prosperity, however, was underpinned by fiction; more than 30 novels, including The Woman Who Did, which has attracted much recent attention from feminist critics and historians. The Better End of Grub Street uses Allen's career to examine the role and status of the freelance author/journalist in the late-Victorian period. Allen's career delineates what it took to succeed in this notoriously tough profession. |