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New Grub Street (1891) is a novel by George Gissing. Inspired by his own struggles as a working writer and unhappily married man, Gissing crafts a tale of talent, ambition, and the strain placed on romance by financial need. New Grub Street poses important questions about convention in Victorian England while proving surprisingly relevant for our own times. In 18th century London, Grub Street was where the desperate writer went once their dreams of literary achievement had finally faded under the harsh light of failure. A century later, Grub Street is no more, but the demand for hack writers able to quickly churn out novels, stories, and articles has only increased. Against the odds, two men forge a friendship grounded in struggle. Edwin Reardon is a talented novelist who refuses to sacrifice his literary standards to appease the opinions of professional critics. Jasper Milvain is a jaded journalist who sees writing as a means of gaining greater economic and social mobility. Forced to attempt a popular novel, Reardon fails miserably, and exacerbates his already tense marriage to the point of divorce. Unwilling to mortgage his future for ideals, Milvain gains employment with a popular newspaper while inadvertently risking his relationship with Marian Yule, the sister of Edwin's ex-wife. As fortunes rise and fall, literature and love give way to the pressures of life, leaving Gissing's characters to face reality or flounder in willful ignorance. This edition of George Gissing's New Grub Street is a classic work of English literature reimagined for modern readers. Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

'New Grub Street'is George Gissing's 1891 novel set in the writing circles of London in the 1880s. A place that became synonymous with the writing of hack literature, Grub Street is a street in London, England and represents the setting of the novel. It is here that talented and cerebral novelist Edwin Reardon and the semi-scrupulous Jasper Milvain attempt to pursue success, love, and—often above all else—money. As a realistic picture of the literary life in late Victorian England, New Grub Street has few rivals. This classic tale of money versus morals is considered Gissing's masterpiece and would make for a fantastic addition to any bookshelf. Contents include: “A Man of his Day”, “The House of Yule”, “Holiday”, “An Author and his Wife”, “The Way Hither”, “Practical Friend”, “Marian's Home”, “To The Winning Side”, “Invita Minerva”, “The Friends of the Family”, “Respite” “Work Without Hope”, “A Warning”, “Recruits”, etc. George Robert Gissing (1857–1903) was a British novelist. From 1880 to 1903, he published 23 novels, and also worked as a teacher and tutor during his life. Other notable works by this author include: “The Nether World” (1889) and “The Odd Women” (1893).

In'New Grub Street,'George Gissing offers an incisive exploration of the harsh realities faced by writers in late Victorian England. Set against the backdrop of a burgeoning literary marketplace, Gissing's narrative weaves together the lives of struggling authors navigating the tension between artistic integrity and commercial success. The novel is characterized by its realist style, employing vivid characterizations and intertwining personal and social conflicts, which mirrors the broader societal changes of the period. Through the experiences of protagonists like Jasper Milvain and his fellow writers, Gissing critiques the commodification of literature and the moral compromises that many writers must make to survive. Gissing, himself a former writer and critic, drew upon his struggles with poverty and his observations of the literary world to craft this poignant commentary on the nature of authorship. His own tumultuous career, shaped by his tumult with societal expectations and personal aspirations, informs the depth of character and thematic resonance found in'New Grub Street.'As someone who lived through the trials of financial instability and the pursuit of genuine artistic expression, Gissing encapsulates the frustrations and aspirations that marked his contemporaries. This novel is highly recommended for readers interested in the intersection of art and commerce, particularly within the literary sphere. Gissing's keen insights into the pressures of authorship and societal expectations not only resonate with the challenges faced by writers today but also elevate the text as a timeless reflection on the struggles inherent in the creative process. With its rich narrative and profound thematic explorations,'New Grub Street'remains a vital work for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of literary culture.

Classic novel. According to Wikipedia:'George Robert Gissing (November 22, 1857 – December 28, 1903) was an English novelist who wrote twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.... In 1880 when his first novel, Workers in the Dawn, proved to be an abject failure, he became a private tutor to keep poverty from the door. In 1883, he separated from his wife, now an alcoholic, but gave her a weekly income on what little money he had until her death in 1888. In 1884 his second novel, The Unclassed, which saw a marked improvement in style and characterisation, met with moderate critical acclaim. After this Gissing published novels almost on a yearly basis, but so little money did they bring him, that for several more years he had to continue working as a tutor. Although notoriously exploited by his publishers, he was able to visit Italy in 1889 from the sale of the copyright of The Nether World, his most pessimistic book. Between 1891 and 1897 (his so-called middle period) Gissing produced his best works, which include New Grub Street, Born in Exile, The Odd Women, In the Year of Jubilee, and The Whirlpool. In advance of their time, they variously deal with the growing commercialism of the literary market, religious charlatanism, the situation of emancipated women in a male-dominated society, the poverty of the working classes, and marriage in a decadent world. During this period, having belatedly become aware of the financial rewards of writing short stories for the press, he produced almost seventy stories. As a result he was able to give up teaching.... The middle years of the decade saw Gissing's reputation reach new heights: by some critics he is counted alongside George Meredith and Thomas Hardy as one of the best three novelists of his day. He also enjoyed new friendships with fellow writers such as Henry James, and H.G. Wells, and came into contact with many other up and coming writers such as Joseph Conrad and Stephen Crane.... In 1903 Gissing published The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft, which brought him much acclaim. This is his most autobiographical work. It is the memoir of the last happy years of a writer who had struggled much like Gissing, but thanks to a late legacy had been able to give up writing to retire to the countryside.'

'Because one book had a sort of success he imagined his struggles were over.'Scholarly, anxious Edwin Reardon had achieved a precarious career as the writer of serious fiction. On the strength of critical acclaim for his fourth novel, he has married the refined Amy Yule. But the brilliant future Amy expected has evaded her husband. The catastrophe of the Reardon's failing marriage is set among the rising and falling fortunes of novelists, journalists, and scholars who labour'in the valley of the shadow of books'. George Gissing's New Grub Street was written at breakneck speed in the autumn of 1890 and is considered his best novel. Intensely autobiographical, it reflects the literary and cultural crisis in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century.

The story is about the literary world of late-Victorian London that Gissing inhabited, and its title, New Grub Street, alludes to the London street, Grub Street, which in the 18th century became synonymous with the'hack writing'that pervades Gissing's novel; Grub Street itself was no longer extant when Gissing was writing. The novel contrasts Edwin Reardon, a congenitally uncommercial but talented writer, against Jasper Milvain, a selfish and unscrupulous hack who rejects artistic endeavour for material gain. Milvain's trite, manipulative work ascends while Reardon's work--and his life--spiral downward.The novel suggests that the literary world rewards materialistic self-promotion more than serious artistic sensibility. Gissing's biography--a respected writer who struggled for a long time to obtain commercial success--strongly suggests the novel is autobiographical, the author's stand-in being (of course) Reardon.

This portrait of toilers in late-nineteenth-century London's literary world depicts abject professional, personal, and marital disappointment -- and the rise of one man who maneuvers to snatch the glittering prizes. Absorbing, ironic, and often extremely (if darkly) funny.

George Gissing (1857-1903) was an English novelist of the late-Victorian era. Gissing's career as a novelist, at least until the late twentieth century, has been assessed in the framework of the nineteenth century realism and naturalism. Like many writers at the end of the nineteenth century, he was caught between the sociological realists with reform instincts and the adherents of an aesthetic movement with their emphasis on the attainment of ideal beauty. Gissing never achieved fame or the fortune that he would have liked, but was nevertheless seriously reviewed and often applauded by the critics for his objective treatment of social conditions in England.'New Grub Street', Gissing's most highly regarded novel, is the story of men and women forced to make their living by writing. Gissing presents their broken dreams and daily lives made and marred by the rigors of urban life and the demands of the fledgling mass communications industry with vivid realism and cynical sympathy.

Hailed as Gissing's finest novel, New Grub Street portrays the intrigues and hardships of the publishing world in late Victorian England. In a materialistic, class-conscious society that rewards commercial savvy over artistic achievement, authors and scholars struggle to earn a living without compromising their standards. “Even as the novel chills us with its still-recognizable portrayal of the crass and vulgar world of literary endeavor,” writes Francine Prose in her Introduction, “its very existence provides eloquent, encouraging proof of the fact that a powerful, honest writer can transcend the constraints of commerce.” This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the text of the 1891 first edition.