{"product_id":"anonymity-a-secret-history-of-english-literature-hardcover","title":"Anonymity: A Secret History of English Literature - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJohn Mullan\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSome of the greatest works in English literature were first published without their authors' names. Why did so many authors want to be anonymous--and what was it like to read their books without knowing for certain who had written them? In \u003ci\u003eAnonymity\u003c\/i\u003e, John Mullan gives a fascinating and original history of hidden identity in English literature. From the sixteenth century to today, he explores how the disguises of writers were first used and eventually penetrated, how anonymity teased readers and bamboozled critics--and how, when book reviews were also anonymous, reviewers played tricks of their own in return. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Today we have forgotten that the first readers of \u003ci\u003eGulliver's Travels\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSense and Sensibility\u003c\/i\u003e had to guess who their authors might be, and that writers like Sir Walter Scott and Charlotte Bront  went to elaborate lengths to keep secret their authorship of the best-selling books of their times. But, in fact, anonymity is everywhere in English literature. Spenser, Donne, Marvell, Defoe, Swift, Fanny Burney, Austen, Byron, Thackeray, Lewis Carroll, Tennyson, George Eliot, Sylvia Plath, and Doris Lessing--all hid their names. With great lucidity and wit, \u003ci\u003eAnonymity\u003c\/i\u003e tells the stories of these and many other writers, providing a fast-paced, entertaining, and informative tour through the history of English literature.\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Mullan shows how literary anonymity excites its opposite--curiosity, controversy, conflict, and notoriety. \u003ci\u003eAnonymity\u003c\/i\u003e is accessible, thorough, and interesting.\"\u003cb\u003e--Sophie Gee, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Scandal of the Season: A Novel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A great book. Mullan's historical reach and subtle eye equip him to write a witty, and incisive, biography of Anonymous.\"\u003cb\u003e--Nicholas Dames, Columbia University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Mullan\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of English at University College London and the author of \u003ci\u003eHow Novels Work\u003c\/i\u003e. A broadcaster and journalist as well as an academic, he has been described as having \"a scholar's knowledge worn with a journalist's lightness of touch.\" He writes a weekly column on contemporary fiction for the \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e newspaper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 384\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.17 x 8.36 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 24, 2008\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52702503010611,"sku":"9780691139418","price":73.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/bDRBVWVQd1ZoVjNjMHBQVGlRbzNxZz09.webp?v=1763308848","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/anonymity-a-secret-history-of-english-literature-hardcover","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}