Dickens: A Biography

Fred Kaplan. Avon Books, $12.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-380-70896-3

``This first major biography of Dickens in nearly 40 years is a winning mix of insight, narrative skill and shrewd judgment,'' commended PW. As limned here, ``Dickens was convivial, loyal, secretive and arrogant, with a `performance personality' that required applause for self-definition.'' Photos. (May)

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