Chaucer's TaleBy: Paul Strohm A lively, concise biography of the father of English literature and the tumultuous year that led to The Canterbury Tales At the beginning of 1386, Geoffrey Chaucerlauded today as the father of English literaturewas a middle aged Londoner with a modest bureaucratic post; his literary successes had been confined to a small audience of intimate friends. But by years end, he was swept up in a series of disastrous events that would