Status Updates From Vice Versa: A Lesson to Fat...

"On the evening of December 6, 1882, he died. Thus, laughing, he passed out of a world of laughter; thus, from the land of men and women whom he had so shrewdly understood, so tenderly described, he crossed over to that further shore, whence (in his own words) he stretches out his hand, bidding farewell.”

"merriment. But in the very midst of one such joyful interruption came realisation of a sudden silence. The loudest laugh of all had failed to sound. Trollope had had a stroke, and lay there speechless, propped crookedly against his easy chair. They moved him to a house in Welbeck Street. He rallied; sank again. For nearly five weeks he lingered on, hardly speaking, only intermittently aware of those about his bed.

"After dinner the little party settled in the drawing-room to read aloud from Anstey’s Vice Versa. This story had just been published, and was the craze of every London gathering at which books were at all a theme of conversation. The reading aloud progressed. Every now and again great gusts of laughter caught both listeners and reader, so that the tale was broken off and the room grew clamorous with shouted

And I have since confirmed that this really is the book that "did Trollope in," or at any rate that it is reliably associated with the circumstances behind his death. I thought this would turn out to be apocryphal, but:

The dad is SUCH an ass, everything that happens to him just seems more and more justified (up to and including the repeated roughing up by the other boarding school boys.) I am curious to see how things are going with the son, though.

Very funny, but NOT in strict obedience to the Freaky Friday scenario, although it is a definite progenitor. The father inadvertently wishes that he could be a boy again like his son, and is transformed. When he can’t wish himself back, he demands that his son do it for him, but his son instead wishes to have the appearance of his father. So there’s no actual mind transference.