Men’s Work

LINDA ZIONKOWSKI is Associate Professor of English at Ohio University.

• Introduction Poets of the Times: Rochester, Oldham, and Restoration Literary Culture From the Stage to the Closet: Dryden's Journey Into Print, Manhood, and Poetic Authority 'A good Poet is no small Thing': Pope and the Problem of Pleasure for Sale 'I shall be but a shrimp of an author': Gray, the Marketplace, and the Masculine Poet 'I also am a Man': Johnson's Lives and the Gender of the Poet

"Men's Work marks a significant breakthrough in gender studies as they relate to other kinds of historical investigation. By thinking about professionalization and social class in relation to gender, Zionkowski demonstrates that the old "man of letters" category is problematic in a variety of ways - and not just for women writers. The book is theoretically sophisticated and historically informed. It represents both wide and deep reading and is smart and challenging in its refusal to honor hallowed, separate categories. This is an important study that will help us rethink the interrelationship of key historical, professional, social, and gender structurings." - J. Paul Hunter, University of Chicago "Zionkowski offers a strong and focused argument for the emergence of gendered and class-based assumptions about the nature of poetic authorship from the late 17th up through the mid 18th century. Men s Work succeeds entirely in its delineation of the historical development of the poet as a male professional, based on careful and copious readings of both poetry itself and a variety of print materials reflecting on and constituting frameworks for poetic production. This focus on the economic and ideological contexts of poetic production opens up a new field of insights into the much-considered interrelationship between gender, class, and writing during the period." - Kristina Straub, Associate Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at Carnegie Mellon University "Thorough, and clearly argued, the book is recommended..." - Choice