No one description will fit this strange, eccentric, endlessly complex
masterpiece. It is a fiction about fiction-writing in which the invented
world is as much infused with wit and genius as the theme of inventing
it. It is a joyful celebration of the infinite possibilities of the art
of fiction, and a wry demonstration of its limitations. This Penguin
Classic contains Christopher Ricks's introductory essay, itself a
classic of English literary criticism, together with a new introduction
on the recent critical history and influence of Tristram Shandy by
Melvyn New. The text and notes are based on the acclaimed Florida
Edition, making the scholarship of the Florida editors readily available
for the first time.