Like
Don Quixote
, Sterne's
Tristram Shandy
, and Fielding's
Tom Jones
,
Modern Chivalry
is a tale of adventuring, episodic and exciting. Despite the author's European inspirations, it is a distinctively American book, not just because of its homespun, native characters and slapstick humor, but also because it is a narrative of journeying and questing. As it follows Captain Farrago and his sidekick on their travels, the book's premise becomes clear—that democracy as practiced in America is valuable and worthy, but that it is subject to malfunctions when tinkered with by unfit men. A pointed caricature of American life,
will be of great value to all interested in American history and literature.