The man who let him wake up, famous

We've read Byron's letters for years -- one of the best "translations" of many of them, ferreting out their hidden references, can be found in Louis Crompton's Byron and Greek Love: Homophobia in 19th Century England. But now we have his publisher John Murray's letters to Bryon -- remarkably, for the first time in print. It was Murray who helped arrange Byron's sudden fame, and his letters are so revealing and intimate, Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate declares that all Bryon biographies have been made obsolete.

August 9, 2007 6:09 PM | Permalink

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THE REVIEWS:

Pat Barker, Frankenstein, Cass Sunstein on the internet, Samuel Johnson, Thrillers, Denis Johnson, Alan Furst, Caryl Phillips, Richard Flanagan, George Saunders, Michael Harvey, Larry McMurtry, Harry Potter and more ...

ESSAY:

Big D between the sheets -- Dallas in fiction

ESSAY:

Reviewing the state of reviewing

ESSAY:

9/11 as a novel: Why?

ESSAY:

How can critics say the things they do? And why does anyone pay attention? It's the issue of authority.

The disappearing book pages:

Papers are cutting book coverage for little reason

Thrillers and Lists:

Noir favorites, who makes the cut and why