First published 1994
Richard Holmes reconstructs an extraordinary eighteenth-century friendship between two unlikely companions. Richard Savage was a poet, playwright, and convicted killer living on London's margins. Samuel Johnson was an obscure provincial schoolmaster with literary ambitions. Holmes traces how these men from vastly different circumstances formed a profound bond that would shape both their lives. The biographer examines their nocturnal wanderings through London streets, their shared poverty and dreams, and the complex dynamics of their relationship. Savage brought worldly experience and cautionary tales of literary life, while Johnson offered loyalty and intellectual companionship. Holmes reveals how this friendship influenced Johnson's later views on human nature, social justice, and the struggles of writers. The book shows how two men sustained each other through hardship and uncertainty in an unforgiving age.
Genres: biography, literary-fiction, friendship, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unlikely-companions
Setting: London
Period: 18th-Century
260 pages · Hardcover · Pantheon