Laurence Sterne: A Life - Hardcover

Ross, Ian Campbell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0192122355 ISBN 13: 9780192122353

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2001

Synopsis

"I wrote to be famous, not to be fed," said Laurence Sterne upon publication of his comic masterpiece, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. And indeed, almost overnight, Sterne achieved fame beyond his wildest dreams. In this fascinating biography, Ian Campbell Ross shows how the great comic author combined a genius for self-promotion with a clear grasp of the nascent business of publishing to soar across the cultural and social firmament of mid-18th century England.
Ross begins with Sterne's childhood in Yorkshire and follows the young gentleman's progress to Cambridge and then to the Church of England and a humdrum rural vicarage. He describes his unhappy marriage to a woman who suffered a nervous breakdown and at one time believed herself to be the Queen of Bohemia, as well as his many scandalous liaisons with other women, experiences that helped inform his Rabelaisian novel. But the heart of the book is Ross's account of the country parson's sudden rise to prominence, swept up in a frenzy of celebrity excessive even by today's standards. Ross draws us into the glamorous world of literary London--a world of power and privilege ruled by fashionable legislators of taste--showing how Sterne marketed himself, as well as his novel, by seeking favors from influential critics, famous authors, and even leading statesmen.
Laurence Sterne: A Life is the first full biography to appear in fifteen years. Ian Campbell Ross makes deft use of recently discovered material, particularly a holograph of Sterne's memoir, to shed new light on the man, his work, and the nature of celebrity.

About this title

About the Author

Ian Campbell Ross is A Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and Senior Lecturer in English.

From Library Journal

Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy is one of the enduring masterpieces of comic literature, justly compared to Don Quixote. Sterne himself is a problematic individual a husband and rake, an Anglican priest and author who has inspired a number of biographies. The standard scholarly biography is Arthur H. Cash's two-volume work, Laurence Sterne: The Early and Middle Years (1975. o.p.) and The Later Years (LJ 12/86). Ross, a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and editor of the Oxford World's Classics edition of Tristram Shandy, is well prepared for the task. His new biography offers a thorough, well-researched, and gracefully written account, bringing to it a deep love and appreciation of Sterne's work. Like Cash, Ross takes a chronological rather than a psychological or deconstructive approach. Cash is more detailed and analyzes and interprets sources, with results that Ross silently incorporates into the body of his text to create a smoother narrative flow. If Ross does not supersede Cash though he is up-to-date he breaks no major new ground he is comparable, important to scholars, and a pleasure for general readers. T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ., Savannah, GA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0192122355
• ISBN 13: 9780192122353
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 512