Book cover for The World in Thirty-Eight Chapters or Dr Johnson’s Guide to Life

The World in Thirty-Eight Chapters or Dr Johnson’s Guide to Life

Synopsis

Details

11 July 2019
368 pages
9781509841943
Imprint: Picador

Reviews

Hitchings himself could be said to provide positive proof of Dr Johnson’s benign influence on the world. As this delightful book goes on, his own aphorisms grow more like Dr Johnson’s, as though infected with that robust sympathy and intelligence. Looking through my notes for this review, I sometimes found it hard to recall which phrase was coined by H Hitchings, and which by S Johnson.
Witty, engaging ... Hitchings proves an amiably convincing advocate for his hero’s enduring significance.
'A sprightly companion and guide, full of enjoyable surprises and learned digressions even for those who think they know all there is to know about the great man.'
Enjoyable ... Hitchings is at his best when un-entwisting some of Johnson’s most quoted and misquoted sayings.