Self-Hugging 
Andrew O’Hagan
- Boswell's Presumptuous Task by Adam Sisman
- James Boswell’s ‘Life of Johnson’: Research Edition: Vol. II edited by Bruce Redford and Elizabeth Goldring
- Samuel Johnson: The Life of an Author by Lawrence Lipking
- Dr Johnson's London by Liza Picard
One of the general effects of hero-worship is its tendency to marshal resentment in those who claim themselves no party to the admiration. A good example of this offers itself at the opening of Vanity Fair – ‘A Novel without a Hero’ – when the single-minded Becky Sharp, high in a coach bound for Russell Square, flings a copy of Johnson’s Dictionary out of the window to land on the grass at the feet of her former teacher, a sworn disciple of the Great Lexicographer. ‘So much for the Dictionary,’ says Becky Sharp as the carriage pulls away, ‘and, thank God, I’m out of Chiswick.’
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Andrew O’Hagan’s book of essays, The Atlantic Ocean, will be out soon in paperback.
Other articles by this contributor:
Iraq, 2 May 2005 · Two Soldiers
At the Movies · M. Night Shyamalan
A Car of One’s Own · Chariots of Desire
The Nominee · With the Democrats
Disgrace under Pressure · Andrew O’Hagan reads some lad mags
The Things We Throw Away · The Garbage of England
In His Hot Head · Robert Louis Stevenson
Hating Football · Andrew O’Hagan deserts the Tartan Army
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