Description
Book SynopsisDuring Shakespeare's lifetime, John Lyly was repeatedly described as the central figure in contemporary English literature. This book takes that claim seriously, asking how and why Lyly was considered the most important writer of his time. -- .
Trade ReviewAndy Kesson shows that Lyly's work requires serious attention, reshaping our idea of the early modern period. Kesson challenges notions of Shakespeare's preeminence and establishes Lyly as absolutely key to many of our current critical concerns. This is a book that is lucid, learned, and above all enthusiastic about its subject.'
Emma Smith, Fellow in English at Hertford College, Oxford
Kesson does a terrific job of exposing centuries of unwarranted condescension towards Lyly and of attuning us both to his sense of humour and his and Cawood's innovative marketing of prose fiction.
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Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction: our Lyly?
Part one: Lyly and prose fiction
1. Buy the book: imaginative stories in the book market (1566–1578)
2. Euph culture: Lyly, Euphues and the market for single-story books (1578–1594)
Part two: Lyly, performance and print
3. 'Whatsoever we present': Lyly's elusive theatre (1583–c.1590)
4. 'This is the first': creating a market for printed plays (1584–1594)
Part three: euphuism and reception
5. A hopeless Romantic? Lyly, euphuism and a history of non-reading (1632–1905)
Conclusion: go dare
Bibliography
Index
