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Title: Boswell

Subtitle: A Modern Comedy

Author: Stanley Elkin

Narrator: Michael Butler Murray

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Boswell is Stanley Elkin's first and funniest novel: the comic odyssey of a twentieth-century groupie who collects celebrities as his insurance policy against death. James Boswell - a strong man and professional wrestler (his most heroic match is with the Angel of Death) - is a con man, a gate crasher, and a moocher of epic talent. He is also the "hero of one of the most original novels in years" (Oakland Tribune) - a man on the make for all the great men of his time - his logic being that if you can't be a lion, know the pride of them. Can he cheat his way out of mortality?

Members Reviews:

A delightful beginning to a distinguished career

BOSWELL isn't at accomplished as Elkin's later work, but it's more accessible to the new reader than GEORGE MILLS or THE FRANCHISER. Its broad comedy hides a deceptively deeply thought out work.

I have seen the light!

When I first began to read Boswell, I can honestly say that I thought it was dull and boring. What's the point of this book? is what I thought to myself. But as I read on, I began to see the light, the light of comedy in literature. Never before had an author used comedy so cleverly and and easily as Stanley Elkin does. His comedy is not only funny, but brilliant. he can take a three word sentence and turn it into a humorous event that has comedy and meaning. Not only was the comedy very good, but the stucture of the book was clever as well. Elkin would use different stratagies to keep the reader interested, such as interrupting the plot of the story with small stories that didn't really have anything to do with the story , but added humor and sometimes moral lessons. If you as well want ot see the light of comedy, I strongly recommend Boswell to you.

Humorous but...

also a little annoying. Elkin's original writing style, as well as the content, is what makes this novel funny, but it is also what makes this book annoying. Reading the book for my AP Composition class and paying attention more to style than actual content, I noticed that Elkin used several different literary techniques (as most writers do), but it's how he used and combined then that sets him apart form other writers. Elkin makes several plays on words and commmon phrases (such as having a character say, "the plot thickens" while working with clay) and at times uses very descriptive imagery, along with various allusions, hyperboles, and metaphors. While this all made the book interesting at the beginning, it gradually also became overwhelming as the book went on, and certain parts seemed unnecessary and dull.