New Grub Street (Modern Library Classics)

Hailed as Gissing’s finest novel, New Grub Street portrays the intrigues and hardships of the publishing world in late Victorian England. In a materialistic, class-conscious society that rewards commercial savvy over artistic achievement, authors and scholars struggle to earn a living without compromising their standards. “Even as the novel chills us with its still-recognizable portrayal of the crass and vulgar world of literary endeavor,” writes Francine Prose in her Introduction, “its very existence provides eloquent, encouraging proof of the fact that a powerful, honest writer can transcend the constraints of commerce.”

This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the text of the 1891 first edition.

Francine Prose’s most recent book is The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists They Inspired. A contributing editor at Harper’s, she is the author of ten books of fiction, including Blue Angel, a 2000 National Book Award finalist.