Margins
Justification of Johann Gutenberg book cover
Justification of Johann Gutenberg
A Novel
2000
First Published
3.30
Average Rating
272
Number of Pages
Blake Morrison has woven a stunning novel around the few facts known about the life and work of Johann Gensfleisch (aka Gutenberg), master printer, charmer, con man, and visionary—the man who invented "artificial writing" and printed the Gutenberg Bible, putting thousands of monks out of work. In this dazzling debut novel, Morrison gives Gutenberg's final a justification and apologia he dictated, ironically, to one of the young scribes made obsolete by his invention of movable metal type. Through the eyes of the aging narrator, we see the Middle Ages in a strange new light and witness a moment of cultural transition as dramatic as the communications revolution of today.
Avg Rating
3.30
Number of Ratings
129
5 STARS
9%
4 STARS
35%
3 STARS
39%
2 STARS
14%
1 STARS
4%
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Author

Blake Morrison
Blake Morrison
Author · 14 books

Blake Morrison was educated at Nottingham University, McMaster University and University College, London. After working for the Times Literary Supplement, he went on to become literary editor of both The Observer and the Independent on Sunday before becoming a full-time writer in 1995. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and former Chair of the Poetry Book Society and Vice-Chair of PEN, Blake has written fiction, poetry, journalism, literary criticism and libretti, as well as adapting plays for the stage. His best-known works are probably his two memoirs, "And When Did You Last See Your Father?" and "Things My Mother Never Told Me." Since 2003, Blake has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College. He lives in south London, with his wife and three children.

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