"Middlemarch by George Eliot. A work of genius. But more important — and from a purely selfish point of view — a woman wrote it. That might seem ridiculous to male writers, but a man never has to think twice about the gender of genius. He’s got too many examples on his side of the fence. Eliot was the first woman I read who could go toe-to-toe with, say, Tolstoy. I was 15. Since then, I’ve learned how many grand achievements in the novel have been female, but when I was a teenager, that was news to me."
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Novelists from EnglandEssayists from EnglandPoets from EnglandPhilosophers from EnglandTranslators from England
Original Language: English
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Zadie Smith attributed in article (2005)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot
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