Overview

It is widely known that Charles Dickens gave public readings of his works, and that those readings were enormously popular. Far less well known are the stories themselves; these were not, as is the modern fashion, taken verbatim from the published novels. Instead, Dickens trimmed, reworded, and re-shaped material from the novels to create stories that would be self-contained artistic entities. These concise “performance fictions,” shaped in every way to be accessible to a broad audience, are in many ways an ideal introduction to Dickens’s work for the modern reader.

Full Product Details

Author:   Charles Dickens ,  Black et al
Publisher:   Broadview Press Ltd
Imprint:   Broadview Press Ltd
Edition:   Revised ed.
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 0.80cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.159kg
ISBN:  

9781554811649

ISBN 10:   1554811643
Pages:   140
Publication Date:   21 March 2013
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Performance Fictions A Note on the Text The Story of Little Dombey Mrs. Gamp David Copperfield Sikes and Nancy In Context: The Readings of Charles Dickens From Novel to Performance Fiction from Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son (1846–48) from Charles Dickens, “The Story of Little Dombey” (1858) Reviews “Mr. Charles Dickens’s Readings,” The Era (13 June 1858) from “Mr. Charles Dickens’s Readings,” The Belfast News-Letter (30 August 1858) from “Charles Dickens in Derby,” The Derby Mercury (27 October 1858) “Mr. Charles Dickens,” The Times (8 January 1859) from “Mr. Dickens’s First Reading,” The New York Times (10 December 1867) from “Mr. Dickens as a Reader,” The New York Times (16 December 1867) Mark Twain, “Charles Dickens,” The Alta California (5 February 1868) Descriptions from Kate Field, Pen Photographs of Charles Dickens’s Readings (1868) from Charles Kent, Charles Dickens as a Reader (1872)

Reviews

This outstanding collection of Dickens's public readings includes a helpful introduction, which very usefully places his performance fictions in the context of his personal life and literary career. The introduction and contextual documents contain illuminating material about Dickens's process of editing and revising his novels for his public readings. Of particular interest are the contemporary reviews and descriptions of Dickens's performances, which give readers an exceptional illustration of Dickens as performer. --Sarah Alexander, University of Vermont

Author Information

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English author and editor. He is widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.

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