Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman: The Text, Volume 2 (Florida Edition of the Works of Laurence Sterne) - Tapa dura

Samuel Johnson and Samuel Richardson condemned it. James Boswell and Goethe proclaimed it a masterpiece. And from the beginning Sterne realized he had written a book that would not suit everyone's taste. For more than two centuries. Tristram Shandy (1759-67) has astounded - and by turns confounded, captivated, angered, and amused but ever entertained - readers worldwide. While on the surface a comic, disjointed account of the title character's life and times, the work is in fact a brilliant commentary on life's inherent chaos, the pointed challenge of British clergy-man-turned-author Laurence Sterne to the twin concepts of rationalism and sentimentalism. Delineating his views through skillfully drawn representations - among them Tristram, Yorick, and Uncle Toby - Sterne pinpointed issues central to not only his era but our own. Filled with thought-provoking ideas and marked by an open, conversational writing style, Tristram Shandy: A Book for Free Spirits is an adroit guide to understanding the aims and achievements of Sterne's masterpiece and to fully appreciating its lessons for contemporary times.

The eight essays in this collection offer a substantial introduction to Sterne's satiric masterpiece, Tristram Shandy. According to Melvyn New's combative and engaging "lntroduction Polemical", they share an interest in the traditions from which Tristram emerged and a turning away from the now dated attempt to make Sterne "one of us", a modern existentialist. The Further Reading section gives readers commentary on some forty-five additional works.