- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Accent Press Ltd; 2Rev Ed edition (11 Dec 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 190612597X
- ISBN-13: 978-1906125974
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,873,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Beyond Belief - The Real Life of Daniel Defoe
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Product Description
Product Description
In this scholarly and imaginative book, John Martin reveals for the first time a life of Daniel Defoe (1661 ?-1731) which, although sometimes hinted at before, has never been discovered. Defoe led a long and mysterious life as a journalist, government agent and secret 'Governor General' of the press and was the writer of a mountain of books, pamphlets and poems. He lived in tumultuous times in which any doubts that Britain was to develop as a parliamentary democracy were settled for ever. Defoe was a religious dissenter but notwithstanding tills he was often at the centre of political and religious debate. Controversially, John Martin argues that Defoe's complex sexuality was the principal reason for the secret and difficult life he led. Although simultaneously married to three 'wives' by whom he had eight children, he was willing to use same-sex relationships to advance himself socially and politically and for money. John Martin argues that Defoe's fictions reveal the events of his life and that in a real sense the pirates, courtesans, and criminals who crowd ills pages - when properly understood - are Defoe in ills many disguises. In real life Defoe was always in debt, frequently arrested and imprisoned, pilloried, twice bankrupted and he ended his life penniless in hiding from a blackmailer.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
From the Author
Truth is stranger than ficio even when the fiction ecites and alarms.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a lengthy and fully researched book on a fascinating subject which is clearly important to the author. Unfortunately, to my mind it doesn't quite work and its hard to say why. Perhaps there's too much conjecture mixed in with the fact. And it seems like the author has organised the book too much - having a preface, prologue and introduction before you come to Chapter 1 is a clue to that. Referring to Defoe as Daniel seems a bit precious too. But its clearly a magnus opus work and may appeal to others.
4 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Daniel Defoe has puzzled biographers for 300 years. Today he is seen as a victim of religous persecution. But in this carefully researched book John Martin suggests that it was his sexuality that was the problem. At a time when homosexual acts were against the law, he sought his fame and fortune by sexual relationships with men of power. Martin does not deny that Foe was a literary genius. However, and interestingly Martin argues that when Defoe is writing as a woman, as in Moll Flanders and Roxana, he is writing about his own life. He loved to cross dress in an age that thought it a great lark.
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