New Grub St

One of the greatest novels to have come from the 19th century, a realistic, gritty exposure of the lives, loves, intrigue and rivalry that existed in the literary world of London. The art form and culture of writing is becoming a business, expanding rapidly, and profit is more important than integrity of purpose. In the search for a wider readership, editors and publishers look to the poorer educated classes believing that shorter, slighter commercial treatments will sell and thus erudite writers with serious ideas and 'urgent messages for the world' have their work devalued. 'Instead of Chat I should call it Chit-Chat...it would sell like hot cakes. On the same principle...if the Tatler were changed to Tittle-Tattle its circulation would be trebled...An admirable idea! Tittle-Tattle -a magnificent title; the very thing to catch the multitude.' The downward intellectual spiral is of course contrasted by the progress of lightweight, jobbing writers able to turn their pens, with ease, to