Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre..., Simon Callow
Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre..., Simon Callow
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World

Author: Simon Callow

Narrator: Simon Callow

Unabridged: 11 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/07/2012

Synopsis

A short biography of Charles Dickens by acclaimed actor and writer Simon Callow that offers a fresh perspective on one of the greatest novelists in the English language in a lively, highly readable account. "It has all the gusto that a popular biography of Dickens—a man who “could do nothing by halves”—should possess. . . . The best biography for Dickens newcomers and a wonderful read for all."—Library Journal
 
Dickens was one of the first true celebrity authors. Thousands of fans in Britain and America eagerly awaited each new installment of his stories and flocked to see him on his legendary speaking tours. Not only did he create an incredible cast of characters on the page, but he was also a dazzling mimic and storyteller, and he wrote, stage-managed, and acted in plays for the public. Throughout his life, from his childhood performances in pubs to his legendarily powerful reading tours, Dickens was fanatical about the stage. Callow reveals Dickens’s genius on and off the page and offers a compelling insight into a life that was driven as much by performance and showmanship as by literature.

About The Author

Simon Callow is an actor, director, and writer. He has appeared in many films, including the hugely popular Four Weddings and a Funeral. His books include Being an Actor, Shooting the Actor, a highly acclaimed biography of Charles Laughton, a biographical trilogy on Orson Welles (of which the first two parts have now been published), and Love Is Where It Falls, an account of his friendship with the great play agent Peggy Ramsay. His most recent book, My Life in Pieces, won the Sheridan Morley Prize in 2011.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bionic Jean on December 21, 2024

Did you study the works of Charles Dickens at school? Was he pushed down your throat so much that you now yawn when you hear his name? Then please, think again. Don't think of a staid Victorian writer, closeted in his room writing lengthy, boring screeds and rarely venturing out. Dickens was the lif......more

Goodreads review by Gerry on February 20, 2022

Timed for publication to coincide with the 200th anniversary of his birth this superb book is a fascinating study of the great novelist, concentrating more on his life as an entertainer, ie in the theatre and in his public readings. Fluently told with plenty of anecdotal tales Dickens comes to life a......more

Goodreads review by MJ on October 12, 2013

Michael Slater: encyclopaedic, hardcore. Claire Tomalin: thorough, concisely packed. Simon Callow: lightweight, fluffy. Mr. Callow has played Dickens on the stage and in film, and apparently thinks about Dickens to an unhealthy extent. Rather than writing a book comparing his own Greatness to Dicken......more

Goodreads review by Jim on June 22, 2020

I recently rewatched “The Mystery of Charles Dickens,” a recording of the one-man play written by Peter Ackroyd (whose biography of DICKENS is on my Reading List) and featuring Simon Callow. It is a stunning work that briefly allows me to feel as if I was listening to Charles Dickens as he reflected......more

Goodreads review by Shane on December 11, 2016

An actor writes a biography about another actor whose role he played. The former is an actor who happened to be writer, the latter a writer whose inspiration came from his passion for acting. The former is Simon Callow, the latter is Charles Dickens. What we have is a view into the life of Dickens wh......more

Quotes

"A biography of Boz by a great English actor, who seeks to reverse the orthodox argument that Dickens’s obsession with theatrical drama made his books sentimental and lachrymose. . . .  Callow argues that it is Dickens’s attention to stagecraft and the power of drama that’s made folks like The Artful Dodger and Miss Havisham seem three dimensional."
    —The Daily Beast

"In this insightful biographical study, Callow, a seasoned actor and director, shows how the theatricality that caused Dickens’ legs to swell also vastly enlarged his literary art. . . . Itself as enchanting as a well-directed stage play, this narrative will delight any lover of Dickens."
    —Booklist, starred review

“[Simon Callow’s] admiration for his subject glistens on every page. . . . The author shows us the vast, adoring crowds and tallies the enormous psychic and physical costs of Dickens’ myriad performances and celebrity. Callow makes us wish we’d been in those crowds to watch this astonishing magician weave his literary spells.”
     —Kirkus Reviews

“A celebration, jubilant, vigorous, imaginative, and, as Dickens might have said, an all-round sizzler.”
     —John Carey, The Sunday Times (London)

“This is the book we have long been waiting for and only Simon Callow could have written it. . . . A marvelous book that deepens and enriches our understanding and enjoyment of Dickens.”
     —Michael Slater, author of Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing
 
“Callow . . . writes with great authority and elegant insouciance, which makes this ‘biography with a twist’ very entertaining.”
     —The Independent (London)
 
“It is one of the many virtues of this book that Callow not only admires his subject, but has got inside him.”
     —The Guardian (London)

"Of the several books published this year in honor of the bicentennial of Dickens’s birth, this by Callow is in many ways the best because it has all the gusto that a popular biography of Dickens—a man who “could do nothing by halves”—should possess. . . . The best biography for Dickens newcomers and a wonderful read for all."
     —Library Journal, starred review

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List