Charles Dickens biography:
From Book News, Inc.
Kaplan (English, Queens College) provides a full-scale portrait of Dickens and incorporates into the narrative a discussion of the autobiographical basis and significance of his greatest masterpiece. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Synopsis 
From a bitter childhood mired in poverty and hard work to a career as the most acclaimed and best loved writer in the English-speaking world, Charles Dickens had a life as tumultuous as any he created in his teeming novels of life in Victorian England. And no one one has captured the rich texture of his life as colorfully and persuasively as Fred Kaplan in this acclaimed biography. 107 illustrations. 
 
 

A very fine biography of the geatest English novelist 
I have just finished reading Mr. Kaplan's biography of Dickens. I have been reading a number of Dickens' novels, and decided that reading a biography of this master of the novel would provide more insight into what made Dickens write such wonderful books. Mr. Kaplan has set forth a full scholarly account of Dickens, as the extensive notes attest to. I was most struck by Dickens' phenomenal energy in writing all those novels, doing public readings, walking miles a day, and raising a family of eight children! Dickens' relationship with women was also very interesting. Dickens had a strained relationships with his mother, wife and an early love, Maria Beadwell. These relationships reappear in his writings. He also had very close sister/wife relationships with two of his sister-in-laws and his daughters. Although it may never be fully understood why Dickens separated from his wife Catherine after 23 years of marriage, Mr. Kaplan does a fairly good job of explaining this situation.
One is impressed by Dickens' energy, his flair for the theatrical and his overwhelming genius. This book does a very good job of painting a portrait of  Dickens the man and his many activities...Read More