
The book opens with a flamboyant declaration that it is neither history nor romance nor biography, but a series of unpremeditated literary extravaganzas penned for pure self‑glorification. Its author, Doesticks, adopts a tongue‑in‑cheek narrator who revels in paradox, insisting the work amounts to “nothing” while simultaneously promising readers a parade of oddball sketches of people, places and events. The prose ripples with Victorian‑era satire, mixing earnest mock‑seriousness with a wink at the absurdity of literary pretensions.
As you listen, you’ll wander through whimsical vignettes that feel like bubbles on the sea of literature—some familiar, many entirely invented—each dressed in an eccentric, flamboyant diction. The narrator’s self‑aware humor lampoons the market‑driven push to “sell” books, turning the act of publishing itself into a playful critique. Listeners who enjoy clever wordplay, historical parody, and a gentle ribbing of 19th‑century literary culture will find this a delightfully off‑beat experience.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (336K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Chris Curnow, Sue Fleming and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2012-03-12
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1831–1875
Best known for the pen name Q. K. Philander Doesticks, he brought a lively, mischievous voice to 19th-century American humor writing. His newspaper sketches and comic books poked fun at everyday life with a style that made him a recognizable literary personality of his day.
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