Download or read book The Brothers Boswell written by Philip Edward Baruth and published by Soho Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this literary thriller, Baruth (English, Univ. of Vermont; The X President) uses the relationship between diarist James Boswell and his brother John as a lens to examine the complex and often troubled bond between the eldest son and a younger brother. The plot revolves around a boat trip Boswell took to Greenwich in 1763 with his famous literary patron, Samuel Johnson. John, recently released from a lunatic asylum and bearing two pistols, follows them there to force a violent confrontationa sign not simply of his madness but of his lifelong ambivalence about James and his envy of James's burgeoning relationship with Johnson. The suspense is somewhat blunted by the reader's knowing that Johnson and James Boswell obviously weren't killed in 1763. Nevertheless, the book has a strong narrative thread and builds to a dramatic confrontation between the characters. Baruth grounds his narrative firmly in the extensive source material produced by Johnson and Boswell, and his depiction of Johnson is particularly convincing. For fans of historical fiction. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 1/09.]Douglas Southard, CRA International, Inc., Boston Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.