Jonathan Swift
His Life and His World
by Leo Damrosch
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Pub Date Nov 05 2013 | Archive Date Oct 18 2013
Description
In this deeply researched biography, Leo Damrosch draws on discoveries made over the past thirty years to tell the story of Swift’s life anew. Probing holes in the existing evidence, he takes seriously some daring speculations about Swift’s parentage, love life, and various personal relationships and shows how Swift’s public version of his life—the one accepted until recently—was deliberately misleading. Swift concealed aspects of himself and his relationships, and other people in his life helped to keep his secrets.
Assembling suggestive clues, Damrosch re-narrates the events of Swift’s life while making vivid the sights, sounds, and smells of his English and Irish surroundings.Through his own words and those of a wide circle of friends, a complex Swift emerges: a restless, combative, empathetic figure, a man of biting wit and powerful mind, and a major figure in the history of world letters.
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
Advance Praise for Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World
“Leo Damrosch conjures up Jonathan Swift with hallucinatory vividness, allowing the contradictions of this baffling, elusive genius full rein. He recovers in rich detail the world in which Gulliver’s Travels and other enduring masterpieces were created. This is a brilliant and humane biography.”— Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
“Thoroughly researched, vividly written, and convincingly argued, Leo Damrosch’s new biography of Jonathan Swift more than holds its own among such great predecessors as Walter Scott and Irvin Ehrenpreis, and presents a standard that contemporary scholarly prose is rarely capable of matching.”— Robert Mahony, The Catholic University of America
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“The erratic, inventive urgency of the life is all here. A delight to read.”—Stacy Schiff, New York Times Book Review
“A magnificent accomplishment.”—Alan Helms, The Boston Globe
“An important book, but also a provocative and exceptionally entertaining one.”—Michael Dirda,Washington Post Book World
“Immensely enjoyable and fast-paced.”— Louis Menand, author of The Metaphysical Club
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780300164992 |
| PRICE | $35.00 (USD) |
Average rating from 7 members
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