05/22/2026
Every Friday, at 11:00 am, on the library’s YouTube Channel and page, the library will stream a brand new recording of local thespian, Joseph Coté reading aloud selections from a wide variety of fascinating and entertaining books of fiction and non-fiction.
For May 22, Coté will read aloud from Laurence Sterne’s The Life And Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a novel written by Laurence Sterne. It was first published in nine volumes between 1759 and 1767. The novel is a fictional autobiography of the eponymous Tristram Shandy, a man who is born in the middle of a conversation and whose life is shaped by a series of absurd and comical events.
The novel is notable for its unconventional structure, which is non-linear and often digressive. It is written in a conversational style, with the narrator frequently addressing the reader and commenting on his own writing process. The book is also known for its use of visual elements, such as black pages to represent a character’s death and a blank page to represent a character’s silence.
The novel covers a wide range of topics, including family relationships, education, religion, and philosophy. It is also known for its b***y humor and satirical commentary on contemporary society.
The book was a critical and commercial success when it was first published and has since become a classic of English literature. It has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times and has influenced many writers, including James Joyce and Virginia Woolf.
Tristram’s father, Walter Shandy, was eccentric, irritable, and easily frustrated, especially by interruptions or anything that challenged his authority, From a little subacid kind of drollish impatience in his nature, whenever it befell him, he would never submit to it like a Christian; but would pish, and huff, and bounce, and kick, and play the Devil, and write the bitterest Philippicks against the eye that ever man wrote.
The book is ostensibly Tristram’s narration of his life story. But it is one of the central jokes of the novel that he cannot explain anything simply, that he must make explanatory diversions to add context and color to his tale, to the extent that Tristram’s own birth is not reached until volume three.
Thoughts to share? Book ideas to suggest?
Contact Joseph at [email protected]
