Brothers Boswell

by Philip Baruth

“An exciting, suspenseful story of two literary men menaced by a madman” (The Washington Post).   The year is 1763.Twenty-two-year-old James Boswell of Edinburgh is eager to advance himself in London society. Today his sights are set on furthering his acquaintance with Dr. Samuel Johnson, famed for his Dictionary; they are going to take a boat across the Thames to Greenwich Palace.   Watching them secretly is John Boswell, James’s younger brother. He has stalked his older brother for days. Consumed with envy, John is planning to take revenge on his brother and Johnson for presumed slights. He carries a pair of miniature pistols that fire a single golden bullet each, and there is murder in his heart . . .  

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Historical, Mystery

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Philip Baruth is a novelist, and has spent twelve years as a regular commentator for Vermont Public Radio. His commentary series, “Notes from the New Vermont,” focused on both the national and the local, the deeply political and the undeniably absurd.

In addition to Vermont Associated Press awards for commentary on Howard Dean and the effects of 9/11, Philip won a national Public Radio News Directors Award for “Lonesome Jim Does Totally Gnarly,” a spoof of Jeffords’s split with the GOP. “Birth Rate Blues,” his satirical take on Vermont’s low fertility stats, shared a 2009 Edward R. Murrow Award in the Overall Excellence category, then won a Public Radio News Directors Award several months later.

His 2003 novel The X President took this penchant for satire to new lengths: the book follows the desperate attempts of a 109-year-old Bill Clinton to re-write his historical legacy. The New York Times selected The X President as a Notable Book of 2003.

Philip lives in Burlington, Vermont, and has taught at the University of Vermont since 1993. Before that time, he earned a B.A. at Brown University, and his Ph.D at the University of California, Irvine. His latest novel, The Brothers Boswell (Soho Press), is a literary thriller, tracing the famous friendship between James Boswell and Samuel Johnson, author of the first modern dictionary. The Washington Post eventually selected Brothers Boswell as one of the Best Books of 2009.

Reviews

[L.E. Smith]

I write this review quite some time after the publication of Baruth's wonderful book, mostly because I am a writer preparing a list of places to ask for reviews of my own work, and after I visited Soho Press to get reviews of Baruth's novel The Brothers Boswell.

I was disappointed with Soph Press' website, as it has placed Philip's books (there are two novels of his from this press) onto a kind of "has been" link with little info. about the books, the writer, the wonderful reviews his books have been given. Baruth deserves praise for his work, so I write this because Amazon and goodreads is doing a better job than Philip's own press.

The Brothers' Boswell takes you into an atmosphere so think with sensual detail that you feel as though you've been through a time machine. I know London and Edinburgh (Scotland) quite well, having lived in Scotland and having been educated in both Scotland and England. I write this review from deep in the green hills of Baruth's Vermont which is its own kind of paradise, but after Philip's book, I feel I have just come back from a vacation to Great Britian: I have visited the Scotland I remember and the England I wish I had seen. Much of the feel of Baruth's Scotland is still there, but there is none of Johnson'/Boswell's London remaining.

I recommend this read for its beautifully crafted language, depth of psychology, dazzling surprises, and for its ability to take you into another world that is both foreign and familiar.

L.E. Smith, fiction writer

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was surprised to learn that this was supposed to be a literary thriller when I saw this page after I finished the book. I argue that it is neither. I usually have trouble with "thrillers" based on real events as I most often know what happens in the end. That somewhat takes the sting out of the big reveal. As for literary, it felt as if the author was writing whilst continually consulting a dictionary which does not lead to prose which takes the breath away. It felt inauthentic and posed - as did the setting. I suspect the author's natural habitat is not (Georgian) England. The story was passable and I appreciated the research which formed the background of the narrative as well as the premise of the novel (the oft unmentioned brother) which formed the central question of the piece. I would have given it one star had it not been for those two redeeming features.

[Adam Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t tell exactly how I found out about The Brothers Boswell, or BozzyBros as my notes called it. All I know, is that as soon as I had realised that there existed a novel somewhere about James Boswell and Samuel Johnson being hunted down by an insane, underrated younger Boswell, I had to read it.

Recently I went to see a play called Teenage Dick which was an interpretation of Richard III but set in an American High School (of the kind I don’t really believe exist). I was very nervous about the play. It either needed to be very schlocky, with their Duke of Clarence being drowned with White Lightning cider (or US equivalent) or it needed to be very clever. Luckily, the play was very clever -just- and it managed to be an enjoyable time on some slightly uncomfortable chair, though a part of me would have preferred full schlock.

The Brothers Boswell tries to be clever but is never quite clever enough, occasionally it leans into its schlock but is not quite schlocky enough. In failing to be one one thing or another, the book manages to be entertaining enough but hints at being far more gloriously silly, or far more intriguing. There are big risks taken but only up to so far.

Take the case of John Boswell. I happened to be at Dr Johnson’s House while I was reading this book and it didn’t take me much to double check the quotations from Boswell’s London Journal and confirm them as correct, including their mentions of James’s younger brother. This brother was a soldier who was committed to an insane asylum for a bit before being shipped off to the family house in Auchinleck and generally hidden away. Making this largely unknown person the narrator and giving him nefarious plans for Sammy and Bozzy was a really interesting notion, it’s the reason I bought the book. How much more would I have enjoyed this book had the narrator been a completely unhistorical Boswell twin, or if the nefarious plan had been a little more nefarious but in these parts, the book played it safe.

There’s a lot of teasing. We learn about John Boswell’s brilliant golden pistols, about his homosexual love affair with an actor and his chaster but still close affair with Samuel Johnson. This all seems like prime, grade-A nonsense, and I was all for it. Unfortunately, it was all revealed to be the result of John’s muddled mind. All that fun, naughty, teasing the Johnsonians stuff evaporated in the final chapters, meaning that John Boswell’s plan was to do nothing in particular for no particular provocation - it’s not nearly as much fun as it should have been.

There are a number of historical folk in this. Anna Williams is described as, ‘a stone-cold charity case’, Garrick appears as smooth and suave as he probably was, and Goldsmith gets an appearance. I was delighted, as this is pretty much the only fictional depiction of Goldsmith I have ever read - but it wasn’t very good. The Goldsmith in this book was peculiarly socially skilled and in the know to such an extent that he could advise Boswell on the right social cues - which is very much not Goldsmith.

In its merit, the book was very intriguing in the initial stages, when John Boswell stalks the friends down to Greenwich and there’s a truly unpleasant depiction of the Boswell family house with the overbearing father. Had the book been simply about the two brothers growing up, it would have been an interesting historical novel - it’s the stalking/thriller-esque plot which means the book didn’t live up to my expectations of it.

As the book is narrated by someone who currently hates James Boswell, it does work as a wonderfully vicious takedown on the character of James Boswell, his moments of sincerity, his joy to be around but also his total self-absorption.

I also liked how there was a unicorn called Charlie.

[Chainman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy literary thrillers, this book has everything. The characters are complex and interesting, the action is riveting, and the humor is great. Baruth takes an indirect approach to the famous relationship between Dr. Samuel Johnson and his biographer, James Boswell. The main character is James's troubled younger brother, John, who stalks James and Dr. Johnson, all the while raging with envy and resentment. The twists and turns of the plot (and of John's mind) are surprising and totally believable. The historical details are amusing and so well handled that they don't get in the way of the story. The author doesn't let his evident enjoyment of 18th C London become a fetish. Sentence by sentence, the book is a pleasure to read.

John's story is balanced by James's. As we follow John's actions and thoughts, we also keep track of James and his (often funny) schemes of self-promotion. Baruth is able to present a world of morally dubious characters without being harshly ironic or judgmental. It is clear that this is our world, with its fine shades of gray and intricate, hard-to-solve personal and social problems. The story reminds me a little of the movie Amadeus, because James Boswell is similar to Mozart as he's represented in the movie, and John is his secret nemesis.

[William Stafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like time travel. Philip Baruth takes us back to Georgian London - with a few visits to Edinburgh too - as John Boswell stalks his famous brother James and his famous friend Dr Samuel Johnson as they converse, take tea and indulge themselves in their own brilliance. There is something of the travelogue here as well as elements of a thriller. Above all, it's a detailed portrait of life in England's capital in a bygone age; human nature hasn't changed. Each of the Boswell brothers rings true and the depiction of Johnson is monstrously good. An absorbing read from page one to its devastating conclusion. I loved it.

[Selene Colburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really, really good. It's beautifully written and painstakingly constructed, but it never reads like Historical Fiction. I believed in the voice of the narrator, Boswell's mad brother. This kind of writing is so often concerned with getting it all right: the address, the locality, the details of clothing & dress & foodstuffs that all the pressing accuracy actually crowds us out of the narrative. There's something looser and more confident at work here, which allows us to get swept under the current of an unexpectedly suspenseful tale. Hot stuff!

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by this book. It has some good feel for Georgian London but the storyline is thin really and I am unable to stop myself thinking about what a writer like Neal Stephenson would have done with the story - much more depth and complexity of characters and action. Baruth spins the story of John and James Boswell far too thin for my liking and the twist at the end is no twist at all - on a par with Bobby Ewing's 'it all happened in a dream' calamity from Dallas in the 80's. I can't recommend anyone buying the book but if you borrow it there's no great loss involved.

[Daphne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did a good job illustrating the time period the story takes place in detail, it gave the reader the feeling of London in 1763 quite nicely. However, i felt like it took the story a long time to really get going and because of that it took me a while to get through the book. I also thought the ending was kind of weak and I wasn't surprised by the twist.

Still, I would recommend this book to fans of historical fiction. (especially in this time period)

[Danica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm trying to hold my books to the same standard as the movies I watch...so I was very disappointed when I got to page 100ish of this book and a totally unexpected very graphic scene popped up. I was really enjoying the writing - it was clever and funny and interesting - but I'm closing the book. I wouldn't watch a movie with a similar scene, so I ain't gonna read it either.

[Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a great thriller, keeps the suspense going, and creates compelling characters. I especially enjoyed the depiction of the tenderness and drama of sibling rivalry.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

great novel about samuel johnson, and james boswell and his little, insane brother john. or is he, insane? this has it all, good historical realism, nice literary/philosophical musings, thrilling tension, some pretty good sex scenes.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really gave this book a go, I got to page 177, but I finally decided that I just didn't care at all what happened. This is a well-written book that I'm sure will appeal to some, especially if they are interested in the time period and Samuel Johnson.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike any historical fiction I've ever read. At times, it was difficult to determine whether what I was reading was 'real' & actually happening or if it was the product of a madman's schizophrenic imagination. Gripping & suspenceful.

[Andrea]

SOUNDS FASCINATING!

[Jobie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Terrible.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not easy reading.

[Nanette Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't want to work that hard, but it is excellent.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story about the famous writer of dictionaries Samuel Johnson and sidekick James Boswell, as told by the demented brother John Boswell. Interesting, but not compelling.

[Julia]

i got quite drawn into this book despite fact that nothing much happens until towards the end; it is all a build up to it. Interesting picture of Edinburgh and London life in the 18th century

[Sonja · Rating 2 out of 5]

hmmmm, don't know if I liked it or not. I finished it.

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written.Historical value.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Local Author, Well written and interesting, I didn't find it compelling.

[Mark Baines · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tale of society in Britain at the time and the intrigues that might occur. The apparent time available for such a life without appearance of working to live merits some thought.

[Erin Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story with a twist at the end. A little slow in the middle, but worth finishing.

[Michelle]

Read awhile ago