School Library Journal Review
YAOnce again, Pool enters the literary world of Victorian England. He adeptly intertwines interesting moments in the lives of such renowned figures as Charles Dickens, the Brontës, and George Eliot with the history of the British book-publishing industry and the development of a newly emerging, educated middle class that became the market for the novel. The author includes several comparisons to modern-day life that are sure to put YAs in touch with this period. Photographs and portraits of authors and publishing locations appear throughout. A substantial bibliography of books and periodical articles is included. This book should appeal to those interested in these literary personalities and their work.Barbara Arthur, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
"Letting booksellers set prices... just allowed big booksellers to drive the `independents' out of business by underselling them.... it would destroy the country's intellectual life." A reflection on today's David and Goliath bookselling battles? NoAlexander Macmillan's reflections on England's 1852 discount controversy, just one of the many resonant and entertaining tales to be found in this book on the business of writing, publishing and bookselling in the Victorian age. The book's gimmicky title belies the author's intelligent telling of the transformation and maturation of the industry. The Victorian Greats are brought to life, their motivations and vulnerabilities revealed through their own letters, which Pool (What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew) expertly weaves into a lively dramatic narrative. While Dickens, Brontë, Thackeray and George Eliot chronicled the social condition of the time, industry innovators like W.H. Smith, who dispensed "portable books" at the first railroad station book stall, and Charles Mudie, whose circulating libraries commanded great power, stimulated the mass production of books and fostered widespread literacy throughout the country. Though Pool's occasionally convoluted prose could use the kind of editor saluted in its pages, this book tells the colorful stories behind the creators and the creation of the voluminous Victorian novels. Anglophiles and bibliophiles alike will relish this celebration of the rich and glorious history of publishing and bookselling. Photos. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Pool returns to the Victorian literary scene he limned so entertainingly in What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew (S. & S., 1994) to explore in detail the publishing factors that propelled, most notably, the work of Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Thackeray, and George Eliot. Again Pool has done his homework, summoning up snappy facts to relate how the supremacy of the traditional "three-decker" editionmade popular by Sir Walter Scott's historical novels and perfected by the firm of Henry Colburn, though costly and high-browwas challenged by the faster, cheaper magazine serial first utilized to mass acclaim with Dickens's Pickwick Papers. Pool's hopscotch approach takes some getting used to, and his lack of notes and bibliography are irksome; moreover, his focus is so narrow that he ignores the influence of the great 18th-century novelists and dismisses for the most part literary ramifications in other European capitals. While scholars have covered this era exhaustively, Pool will find an audience among general readers.Amy Boaz, "Library Journal" (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.