Samuel Johnson: A Biography
“Perhaps the supreme virtue of Bate’s book is that it makes us comprehend how little we have known Johnson and how much he has to offer those who, like himself, seek ‘the consolation of biography.’” —San Francisco Chronicle“In such depths of pain and courage—which Bate describes so well—we find Johnson’s enduring achievements.” —New York Times Book Review“No other biographer of Johnson has meditated so profitably on the qualities that made him ‘a heroic, intensely honest, and articulate pilgrim in the strange adventure of human life.’” —Time“Clearly the best modern life of Johnson . . . Bate’s empathy is so convincing that one has the uncanny illusion of experiencing Johnson’s struggles inside his skin.” —Newsweek“What Prof. Bate has done is to restore the whole Johnson, the very human, very admirable man behind the monument.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review