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THE NOVELS OF THOMAS DELONEY by Merritt E.-Ed. Lawlis

THE NOVELS OF THOMAS DELONEY

By

Pub Date: Dec. 12th, 1960
Publisher: Indiana University Press

The scholarly importance of this edition of three Deloney novels--Jack Of Newberry, The Gentle Craft, Part I and II, and Thomas of Reading--is self evident. Some feel that it was with Deloney that the novel form took hold in the English language, as it was with Deloney that the impact of dramatic writing made itself first felt in English prose. But apart from the fascination Deloney must have for scholars and serious students of the novel, his writing must also appeal to those readers who seek stimulating entertainment. In the three novels included herein, Deloney's humor, his sharp delineation of character and situation--through the use of dialogue--and his realistic view, render his writing as interesting to the twentieth century reader as it was to his enthusiastic contemporaries. Deloney's world is a lively one, a realistic environment inhabited by busy people filled with a passion for living and with all the considerations that make up the fabric of life, even today. An author of singular genius, he deals with essentials made particular by his unique warmth, understanding, and creative invention. These novels demand a place in university and school libraries as well as in the private libraries of discriminating experts of English literature.