James Boswell--to use a contemporary idiom-- had a mancrush on Samuel Johnson. He wrote this lengthy portrait of his hero--and it's magnificent. This is a vastly entertaining read. Full of fascinating, insightful, provocative, fun, sometimes gossipy detail, Boswell's Life of Johnson is a real treat. After ten pages, I was hooked. In writing his Life of Johnson, Boswell showed us all how fascinating a single man can be when studied in detail by a sympathetic reporter. I suspect that Boswell's Johnson is a much more interesting character than Johnson's Johnson, but that doesn't matter: Boswell's book is a separate creation and entity than Johnson the man. Boswell's hero worship and adulation is infectious. it is difficult not to wish Boswell success in pulling off this grand project: a 1,400 page portrait of a brilliant, admirable, great but flawed man. Get this. You are going to be entertained. Despite its enormous size, this is a fun, interesting, stimulating read. This is the perfect vacation book for anyone who prefers something with more intellectual meat than a thriller or mystery. Anglophiles MUST read this. Anyone who cares about great books should read it. And anyone looking for a book that has stood the test of time should read it. Simply because you will be denying yourself a great experience if you don't. I would definitely want this with me during a long convalescence--it would be a great companion.

If you have not read "Life of Johnson" you should do so. It is a wonderful work. This is a bit odd in that Johnson was not a great writer, nor did he engage in any
great historical event. Johnson's views on Slavery and the American Revolution are rational counterweights to the generalized view of the Revolution on this side of the Atlantic. Johnson knew everybody. So the bio is more than of Johnson, but about the grand and important personalities of his age. The writing could not be more clear. Boswell actually knew Johnson pretty well. His was not the only bio of Johnson written at the time, but the best.

Johnson is in some ways akin to Maimonides, the great Jewish Rabbi of the 13th century. The thinking is clear, with a minimum of dogma.