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Loading... The Friendly Dickens (edition 1998)by Norrie Epstein
Work InformationThe Friendly Dickens: Being a Good Natured Guide to the Art and Adventures of the Man who Invented Scrooge by Norrie Epstein
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This is a easily readable, entertaining overview of Dickens’ life and works that manages to cover a lot without being dry. It starts as a biography and as the books come up chronologically it gives an overview of each, with synopsis, discussion, historical and personal context and interviews with actors, scholars and anyone else that knows a lot about Dickens. It’s funny and opinionated, full of rumor and innuendo. The 20th Century with its sunglasses, irony, sang-froid, and lip gloss was too cool to read Charles Dickens. But Charles Dickens was as cool an observer of the scene as any Andy Warhol. Some day his "factory" novels will be seen as the beautiful soup cans, Chelsea Girls, and Polaroid portraiture, of the 19th Century, that they were. And if you have no clue, begin with this book. Nicely illustrated, too, I might add, and not so much so as to be a "Dickens for Dummies". no reviews | add a review
"The Friendly Dickens helps you turn the pages of a masterpiece like David Copperfield or an "obscure" novel like Nicholas Nickleby as eagerly as you switch channels." "Norrie Epstein - whose The Friendly Shakespeare was called "spirited, informative and provocative" by The New York Times - strips away the polite veneer of Victorian society to reveal Dickens's life and times in all their squalor and glory, from his childhood days toiling in a blacking factory while his father languished in debtor's prison, to his first visit to the United States, where he was hailed as the greatest living writer." "The Friendly Dickens includes an illuminating guide to all of Dickens's works and lively appreciations of characters both major and minor, interviews with aficionados from Patrick Stewart to biographer Phyllis Rose, eye-catching illustrations, copious quotations, a highly opinionated filmography and informative sidebars on almost every page."--Jacket. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.8Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Victorian period 1837-1900LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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"People who read usually love Dickens simply because the magic of reading him captures all the old pleasures of childhood reading. For one thing, he gives us a story--all too rare today, and for anyone who loves words, his books are a linguistic banquet." -Garry Wills ( )