Boswell

the long version

Boswell is Stanley Elkin's first and funniest novel: the comic odyssey of a twentieth-century groupie who collects celebrities as his insurance policy against death. James Boswell - strong man, professional wrestler (his most heroic match is with the Angel of Death) - is a con man, gate crasher, and moocher of epic talent. He is also a man on the make for all the great men of his time - his logic being that if you can't be a lion, know a pride of them. Can he cheat his way out of morality?