This study of Dickens's career as a professional writer uses a range of material to describe and analyze the ways in which his work can be seen as a form of literary production. It thus offers a challenge to traditional accounts which stress the private nature of Dickens's genius. Smith focuses on the communal nature of Dickens's achievement in his struggles with publishers, the expectations of a vast public, and the demands of serialization.

Grahame Smith is Professor of English Studies, University of Stirling.