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Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World    by Simon Callow Amazon.com order for
Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World
by Simon Callow
Order:  USA  Can
Vintage, 2012 (2012)
Hardcover, Softcover, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Ricki Marking-Camuto

In his Foreword, author Simon Callow talks about the variety of biographies and other scholarly works written about Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World is his take on the famous author's life, supposedly with a nod towards Dickens' theatrical endeavors both on and off the stage.

While Dickens' love for the theatre, amateur theatrics, and public showmanship as an early world-wide celebrity are all highlighted, these events feel more like an afterthought in what is otherwise a standard biography. I cannot say Callow showed Dickens in any different light than any other biography has.

As a biography, Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World is a good one – Simon Callow even manages to write in a Dickensian style – but as a look at the author and his various performances, it fails to live up to the hype.

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