Tristram Shandy

With a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a huge literary paradox, for it is both a novel and an anti-novel. As a comic novel replete with bawdy humour and generous sentiments, it introduces us to a vivid group of memorable characters, variously eccentric, farcical and endearing. As an anti-novel, it is a deliberately tantalising and exuberantly egoistic work, ostentatiously digressive, involving the reader in the labyrinthine creation of a purported autobiography. This mercurial eighteenth-century text thus anticipates modernism and postmodernism. Vibrant and bizarre, Tristram Shandy provides an unforgettable experience. We may see why Nietzsche termed Sterne 'the most liberated spirit of all time'.

With a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a huge literary paradox, for it is both a novel and an anti-novel. As a comic novel replete with bawdy humour and generous sentiments, it introduces us to a vivid group of memorable characters, variously eccentric, farcical and endearing. As an anti-novel, it is a deliberately tantalising and exuberantly egoistic work, ostentatiously digressive, involving the reader in the labyrinthine creation of a purported autobiography. This mercurial eighteenth-century text thus anticipates modernism and postmodernism. Vibrant and bizarre, Tristram Shandy provides an unforgettable experience. We may see why Nietzsche termed Sterne 'the most liberated spirit of all time'.

“Packed with carefully curated supplementary goodies, Hawley’s edition will allow students and scholars alike to appreciate the breadth and depth of Sterne’s wit, creativity, and pathos.” —Evan Gottlieb, Oregon State University “This new edition of Tristram expands commentary by the great early novelists and by today’s most influential critics.” —Paula Backscheider, Auburn University

“Packed with carefully curated supplementary goodies, Hawley’s edition will allow students and scholars alike to appreciate the breadth and depth of Sterne’s wit, creativity, and pathos.” —Evan Gottlieb, Oregon State University “This new edition of Tristram expands commentary by the great early novelists and by today’s most influential critics.” —Paula Backscheider, Auburn University