Life of Samuel Johnson
Assigned by 2 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1791
- Language
- English
- Length
- Epic · 1400 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Life of Samuel JohnsonPenguin Classics, 2008David Womersley's complete text in one affordable volume with notes; the Oxford World's Classics abridgement is the choice if the full thing is too much.
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A biography of the great critic, lexicographer and talker Samuel Johnson, written by the young Scot who attached himself to him in 1763 and recorded his conversation for the next twenty-one years. The early life is told from letters and secondhand reports; from Boswell's arrival on the scene the book becomes a diary of dinners, journeys and arguments, with Johnson's talk quoted at length. Garrick, Burke, Goldsmith, Reynolds and the members of the Club move through it. It is the most read biography in English.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Life of Samuel Johnson are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.