"No one would seem better qualified to write a biography of Lear than Jenny Uglow . eloquent and astonishing." --Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker "Mr. Lear is by Jenny Uglow, and her name on anything guarantees both biographical and critical excellence." --Michael Dirda, The Washington Post "With careful attention Ms Uglow gets to the heart of a man who found joy in the absurdities of life . In 600 pages, her tome never tires the reader. As she unpicks Lear's layers, at points she seems to inhabit him. His love of language bubbles through her own, leaving a striking and memorable portrait of the man she describes as 'an eerie, queery, sometimes weary, sometimes cheery Edward Lear.

'" -- The Economist "A well-wrought life of an eminent Victorian who merits our broader acquaintance." -- Kirkus Reviews "Uglow's book is the best biography of Lear yet written, not because it avoids the boring, but because it finds ways to let boredom shed light on--and provide opportunity for--other things." --Matthew Bevis, London Review of Books "Crammed with Lear's delicate drawings and paintings, this must be one of the most beautifully produced books of the year." --Suzi Feay, Financial Times "Mr. Lear is a strikingly beautiful book." --Daniel Karlin, Times Literary Supplement "Sumptuously produced . Uglow's biography is richly detailed and astutely empathetic, a splendid portrait of this remarkable man." --Christopher Hart, The Sunday Times (London) "Superb .

Quite wonderful . The astonishing thing is that Lear's serious paintings and nonsense verses were produced by the same person, but Uglow makes a convincing case for thinking that he needed both. His was a life of art and nonsense, the sublime and the ridiculous . Uglow's triumph is to show how his most famous works brought these contradictions together and struck sparks of creative life from them." --Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Guardian "Mr Lear is far more than a beautiful book--although it is that. [Uglow] is a natural storyteller and the most unobtrusive of biographers, blessed with an effortlessly understated prose style and a magpie's flair for detail." --Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times.