I’ve always been fascinated by the convergence of the serious and the absurd. Raised on the experimental humor of the 90s, I was delighted to find that weird humor and an absurd sensibility were not limited to experimental novelists of the 20th century. In the literature of the Enlightenment, I found proof that taking a joke to its limit can also produce experimental insight, deep feeling, and intellectual discovery. I discovered a time when early novelists moved seamlessly between satirical mimicry and serious first-person narrative; when esoteric philosophy and scientific abstraction blended in with the weirdness of formalist experimentation. I discovered that the Enlightenment was anything but dull.
I wrote...
Irony and Earnestness in Eighteenth-Century Literature: Dimensions of Satire and Solemnity
I love this book because it’s a satirical work that still feels relevant 300 years later. Both a whimsical parody of travel books and a dark satire on human nature, I love the book’s creativity: it features everything from poop scientists to talking horses and flying islands.
As with most early novels, the name of the author, Jonathan Swift, appears nowhere in the book—it was published as if the main character, Lemuel Gulliver, were the author. I love how the book is alternately audacious and subtle; Swift is extremely faithful to the dry style of the travel books he parodies, even as he narrates absurd events, making this one of the weirdest and funniest books of all time.
'Thus, gentle Reader, I have given thee a faithful History of my Travels for Sixteen Years, and above Seven Months; wherein I have not been so studious of Ornament as of Truth.'
In these words Gulliver represents himself as a reliable reporter of the fantastic adventures he has just set down; but how far can we rely on a narrator whose identity is elusive and whoses inventiveness is self-evident? Gulliver's Travels purports to be a travel book, and describes Gulliver's encounters with the inhabitants of four extraordinary places: Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the country of the Houyhnhnms. A consummately skilful…
I love this book’s mixture of camp and macabre. Like Gulliver’s Travels, Walpole’s name didn’t appear in the original book—the preface claims it was a long-lost manuscript found in “the library of an ancient Catholic family in the north of England.”
Ghosts, giants, and dark secrets power this blend of medieval kitsch, tragic fatalism, and dark fantasy, and I find the strange mixture both funny and richly stylized. Walpole was a famous eccentric and obsessive about the lore of the Middle Ages, and I love how he mixes so many genres: he riffs on everything from Shakespeare to contemporary politics.
As a fan of Stranger Things, I love anything that creatively weaves together familiar genres while producing something new for the present. In doing so, Walpole helped to create the formula for contemporary horror.
"The Castle of Otranto," written by Horace Walpole, is considered the first Gothic novel. The story is set in a medieval castle and begins with the sudden, mysterious death of Conrad, the son of the tyrannical Prince Manfred. Manfred's plans to secure his lineage are compromised, leading him to hastily attempt to divorce his wife and marry Isabella, his son's betrothed.
The tale unfolds with supernatural occurrences, including a giant helmet that crushes Conrad, and the appearance of ghostly apparitions. As Manfred's actions become increasingly driven by desperation to maintain his power, the true heir to the Castle of Otranto,…
A fast-paced literary thriller with a strong sci-fi element and loaded with existential questions. Beyond the entertainment value, this book takes a hard look at the perilous world of publishing, which is on a crash course to meet the nascent, no-holds-barred world of AI. Could these worlds co-exist, or will…
I love a good scandalous read, and Cleland’s book, subtitled Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, is one of the most famous examples of literary smut. Purported to be the life story of a former prostitute, the book relays in detail the many exploits of its main character and her companions.
I love how creative Cleland gets in his descriptions: he took great pride in avoiding cursing, even as he relayed sexual exploits in obsessive detail. Tame by the standards of modern pornography, Cleland’s liberal and creative use of the phrase “balsamic injection” has made me unable to have a salad without giggling since I first read the book.
"Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" is an 18th-century erotic novel written by John Cleland and published in 1748. It's considered one of the earliest examples of erotic literature in English and has stirred controversy since its publication due to its explicit content.
The novel is presented as a series of letters written by the titular character, Fanny Hill, recounting her life story and experiences as a prostitute in London. Fanny begins her tale as an innocent young girl who is orphaned and forced to seek employment in the city. She quickly falls into the hands of a…
I love the experimental and absurd sensibility of this novel. In an age known for its groundbreaking fiction, this work stands out for its playfulness and complexity. Like Swift, Sterne was a clergyman of the Church of England, and I love how intelligent and sophisticated he is about dirty jokes and silly scenarios.
I also appreciate Sterne’s commitment to pushing the envelope: Sterne inserts all sorts of oddities, from marble pages to graphical representations of the book’s winding narrative. The book obsesses over the minutiae and small details of everyday life even as it considers weighty issues and tragic events.
Predicting both Freud and postmodernism, I love how this work feels both ultra-modern and very much of its time.
Endlessly digressive, boundlessly imaginative and unmatched in its absurd and timeless wit, Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is edited with an introduction by Melvin New and Joan New, and includes a critical essay by Christopher Ricks in Penguin Classics.
Laurence Sterne's great masterpiece of bawdy humour and rich satire defies any attempt to categorize it, with a rich metafictional narrative that might classify it as the first 'postmodern' novel. Part novel, part digression, its gloriously disordered narrative interweaves the birth and life of the unfortunate 'hero' Tristram Shandy, the eccentric philosophy of his father Walter,…
Country music diva Hayley Swift has fallen off the charts and into a funk. Desperate to regain her place in the limelight, she agrees to a low-budget tour of Southern venues, starting with her 35th high school reunion.
There, in an unexpected but fortuitous reconnection, The Girls Next Door —who…
I love how this book elevates lying into an art form. Following the convention of the era, Defoe published the work as if it were written by its main character, Robinson Crusoe. Crusoe stands out from its peers for the subtlety of its mimicry. I envy how natural and easy Defoe makes writing look.
The book reveals the novel’s roots in other genres, such as satire, journalism, religious writing, and personal narrative. Defoe excelled at all of these, and I find the strange convergence mesmerizing. It’s possible to see the outlines of these earlier traditions even as something like a modern novel comes into view.
With apologies to Oprah and James Frey, this book helps me remember that the best writers have always been a bit loose with the truth.
'Robinson Crusoe has a universal appeal, a story that goes right to the core of existence' Simon Armitage
Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, regarded by many to be first novel in English, is also the original tale of a castaway struggling to survive on a remote desert island.
The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Robinson Crusoe is washed up on a desert island. In his journal he chronicles his daily battle to stay alive, as he conquers isolation, fashions shelter and clothes, enlists the help of a native islander who he names 'Friday', and fights off cannibals and mutineers. Written in…
The eighteenth century was not only an age of Enlightenment—it was also a time of satire and bawdy humor. This was an age of paradoxes: in politics, revolution grew out of philosophy; in literature, satire, and weird humor went together with journalism and earnest fiction.
Popular writers of the era were equally adept at serious journalism and satirical works that predicted The Onion. The same talent for imitation lent itself naturally to novels, which in the era were often published as if they were authentic accounts written by real people. Intricate fiction blended with absurd humor. My book recounts the cultural history of this era when seriousness and playfulness joined forces to create some of the most absurd, unusual, and hilarious books of any time.
The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by…
Desperate to honor his father’s dying wish, Layken Martin vows to do whatever it takes to save the family farm. Once the Army discharges him following World War II, Layken returns to Missouri to find his legacy in shambles and…
