The Sot-Weed Factor

By John Barth,

Book cover of The Sot-Weed Factor

Book description

This is Barth's 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, long-winded) this…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Sot-Weed Factor as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is the funniest book I’ve ever read. The hero, Ebenezer Cooke, seeks to earn his estate in colonial Maryland, in spite of losing it by a misplaced act of justice (the Dolorous Stroke of the story). Nearly every important man he meets turns out to be his childhood tutor in disguise. Nearly all the women in the book are prostitutes. Pure mayhem.

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