Samuel Johnson is famous as a literary giant in
18th-century London and author of the Dictionary
of the English Language. James Boswell is famous as his
biographer. James had a younger brother, John, about whom little is
known except that he suffered from a mental disorder that affected him
periodically.
Those details form the foundation for Philip Baruth’s literary thriller
The Boswell Brothers.
Nineteen-year-old John Boswell, nurturing perceived grievances against
both his brother and Johnson, stalks the pair in London with guns in
his pockets. The ambitious James had wheedled himself into Johnson’s
life two months earlier. Flashbacks return us to the Boswells’ youth in
Edinburgh and reveal how both brothers came to idolize Johnson.
For readers who love period details, the book is rich in the sights and
smells of 18th-century London and Edinburgh. But the plot is less
compelling. John Boswell, who narrates most of the chapters, seems too
sane to be believably mad. The switches between London and Edinburgh
are confusing. And as hard as Baruth tries to build up suspense, we
know that The Life of Samuel Johnson
wouldn’t have come about if James Boswell and Samuel Johnson hadn’t
gone on living.
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