George Gissing - New Grub Street: Life is a huge farce, and the advantage of possessing a sense of humour is that it enables one to defy fate with mocking laughter.

Born on November 22nd 1857 George Robert Gissing published 23 novels over his lifetime. Perhaps the one that creates most interest is New Grub Street. In the 18th Century Grub Street was the centre of cheap and despicable hack literature. Despite Grub Street itself no longer existing when Gissing wrote his novel hack literature certainly did and the story centres on two writers, Edwin Reardon, a shy novelist and Jasper Milvain a young journalist who encapsulates many of the striving ambitions of Victorian society but equally many of its flaws.