The Hero of His Own Life?

It's easy to love the Dickens we think we know--the man whose warm compassion and boundless imagination gave us Scrooge and Tiny Tim, Pip and Magwitch, Oliver Twist and Nancy. But what about the man behind the novels? Claire Tomalin's magisterial new biography brings us up close and personal.

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The Prodigal Brothers

Ever since Cain and Abel, literature has reserved a prominent place for sterling heroes -- and the flawed, grasping, and entirely more interesting brothers who live in their shadow.

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