De Quincey's Art of Autobiography

By Edmund Baxter

Covering all the major themes of Thomas De Quincey's prose work, this new study argues the case for acknowledging "the Opium Eater" as a conscious artist, not the "flawed" writer often portrayed in previous critical studies.
The book analyzes in detail the various manifestations of De Quincey's writings autobiography, biography, fiction, politics, and political economy relating them to the central concern of his work, the production of the self. By deconstructing De Quincey's working methods the book shows how De Quincey's constant revisions and recurrent tropes reflect his self-conscious purpose. Reference is made to many neglected writings, including letters, a newly discovered fiction, and previously "lost" work, to help illustrate the book's argument that De Quincey's oeuvre is primarily autobiographical.
Contents: Acknowledgements; Bibliographical Note and Short Titles List; Introduction; Confessions of an English Opium-Eater; Autobiographical Essays; Biographical Interventions: sketches of Coleridge and Wordsworth; and Sir Hamilton; Fictions; 'The English Mail-Coach' and De Quincey's political works; The Logic of Political Economy R and related works; Notes; Bibliography; Index R

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0389209198
• ISBN13: 9780389209195
• Release Date: February 1991
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 0.8" x 5.6"