This study of Dickens''s career as a professional writer uses a range of material to describe and analyze the ways in which his work can be seen as a form of literary production. It thus offers a challenge to traditional accounts which stress the private nature of Dickens''s genius. Smith focuses on the communal nature of Dickens''s achievement in his struggles with publishers, the expectations of a vast public, and the demands of serialization.

This study of Dickens''s career as a professional writer uses a range of material to describe and analyze the ways in which his work can be seen as a form of literary production. It thus offers a challenge to traditional accounts which stress the private nature of Dickens''s genius. Smith focuses on the communal nature of Dickens''s achievement in his struggles with publishers, the expectations of a vast public, and the demands of serialization.