Fascinating documetation of what sustained literary output actually looked like. The contrast between Conrad's household staff and Burgess juggling groceries is revealing not just economically but creatively. When critical writing paid £600 per 1000 words (adjusted for inflation thats substantial), it meant criticism could be a primary occupation rather than a side hustle. I actualy think the 500-article corpus might be more culturaly significant than some novelists' entire careers.
Burgess often under-estimated the cultural value of his journalism and non-fiction writing, but this work supported him (also his wife and son) through the long, lean years when he earned comparatively little from novel-writing. His critical books on James Joyce, Shakespeare and Hemingway have never fallen out of print in nearly 50 years. And the two vols of autobiography are classics of the genre.
Fascinating documetation of what sustained literary output actually looked like. The contrast between Conrad's household staff and Burgess juggling groceries is revealing not just economically but creatively. When critical writing paid £600 per 1000 words (adjusted for inflation thats substantial), it meant criticism could be a primary occupation rather than a side hustle. I actualy think the 500-article corpus might be more culturaly significant than some novelists' entire careers.
Burgess often under-estimated the cultural value of his journalism and non-fiction writing, but this work supported him (also his wife and son) through the long, lean years when he earned comparatively little from novel-writing. His critical books on James Joyce, Shakespeare and Hemingway have never fallen out of print in nearly 50 years. And the two vols of autobiography are classics of the genre.