This is Barths most distinguished masterpiece. This modern classic is a hilarious tribute to all the most insidious human vices, with a hero who is "one of the most diverting . . . to roam the world since Candide." "A feast. Dense, funny, endlessly inventive (and, OK, yes, longwinded) this satire of the eighteenthcentury picaresque novelthink Fieldings Tom Jones or Sternes Tristram Shandyis also an earnest picture of the pitfalls awaiting innocence as it makes its unsteady way in the world. Its the late seventeenth century and Ebenezer Cooke is a poet, dutiful son and determined virgin who travels from England to Maryland to take possession of his fathers tobacco (or "sot weed") plantation. He is also eventually given to believe that he has been commissioned by the third Lord Baltimore to write an epic poem, The Marylandiad. But things are not always what they seem. Actually, things are almost never what they seem. Not since Candide has a steadfast soul witnessed so many strange scenes or faced so many perils. Pirates, Indians, shrewd prostitutes, armed insurrectionistsCooke endures them all, plus assaults on his virginity from both women and men. Barths language is impossibly rich, a wickedly funny take on old English rhetoric and American selfappraisals. For good measure he throws in stories within stories, including the funniest retelling of the Pocahontas talerevealed to us in the secret journals of Capt. John Smiththat anyone has ever dared to tell." Time

Binding: Paperback;818 pages; Publisher: Deep Vellum Publishing; Classification: FA; Weight: 1268 g; Dimensions: 154 x 230 x 51

Something not quite right? You have 21 days from the day you receive it, to send something back.

Please note, we cannot offer refunds on fashion face masks, cosmetics, pierced jewellery, adult toys, and swimwear or lingerie if the hygiene seal is not in place or has been broken.

Items of footwear and/or clothing must be unworn and unwashed with the original labels attached. Also, footwear must be tried on indoors. Items of homeware including bedlinen, mattresses, and toppers, and pillows must be unused and in their original unopened packaging. This does not affect your statutory rights.

Click here to view our full Returns Policy.