George M. Johnson

"In early twentieth-century Britain, novelists including Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, May Sinclair, and J.D. Beresford believed that they knew and were able to express more about human behaviour than their Victorian predecessors. What gave them this confidence? Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction argues that it stemmed from their knowledge of pre-Freudian psychologies that mapped the mind in order to prove the existence of the soul. Psychologies developed by William James, William McDougall, Henri Bergson, Pierre Janet, and Frederic Myers articulated the nature of psychic reality, describing its movements and conflicts. Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction restores the significance of earlier psychological discourse, uses it to demonstrate continuity from the Edwardian to modernist novel, and generates fresh readings of British psychological fiction."--Jacket.

John Davys Beresford, a prolific and innovative writer, was heralded in his time for his intelligence and imagination and was considered one of the finest novelists of his generation. George Johnson seeks to redress the unjust neglect of this important figure of the Georgian period. Johnson's unabashed esteem for Beresford the man and discerning admiration of Beresford's work endow this study with a depth and a vitality that bring his subject to life. Beresford was the author of forty-nine novels, five collections of short stories, nine autobiographical and miscellaneous books, and dozens of shorter pieces all of which crossed many genres and subgenres. Johnson has addressed this voluminous body of work by genre, devoting a chapter to each of the major subjects Beresford explored - psychological realism, psychoanalysis and mysticism, scientific romance, and speculative fiction. Beresford is of interest not only for his role as an innovator of the psychological novel but for his place in the literary history of the period. He was a friend and intellectual peer of such important writers as D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, John Cowper Powys, John Middleton Murry, and Walter de la Mare. Johnson's examination of Beresford's life benefits from his access to Beresford's unpublished autobiography; the memoir of Beresford's oldest son, Tristram; and Beresford's correspondence with his literary friends. The introduction of these materials, which have only recently been made available, allows for the most comprehensive study of Beresford's life and work to date.

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.