The Busiest Man in England : Grant Allen and the Writing Trade, 1875-1900 / by P. Morton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morton, Peter, 1946 April 10-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fiction.

Literature, Modern--19th century.

Literature, Modern.

European literature.

Fiction Literature.

Nineteenth-Century Literature.

European Literature.

Local Subjects:

Fiction Literature.

Nineteenth-Century Literature.

European Literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (270 pages)

Edition:

1st ed. 2005.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan US : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Introduction : "the most hateful of professions?"

1. Canada and Oxford (1848-1873)

2. Jamaica (1873-1876)

3. Setting out the stall (1876-1880)

4. "A pedlar crying stuff" : selling the wares (1880-1889)

5. The stock in trade : writing science

6. The stock in trade : light fiction

7. The prosperous tradesman (1890-1895)

8. Dealing with the "dissenting grocer"

9. Retailing The woman who did

10. Last orders (1896-1899)

Conclusion : "we of the proletariat..."

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-281-36460-6

9786611364601

1-4039-8099-3

OCLC:

312478889