THE CLUB Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age

Simon Vance is a master narrator, and a highly suitable choice for this lively history of a dining club composed of eighteenth-century London's most celebrated figures, including Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, David Garrick, Edward Gibbon, Joshua Reynolds--yes, all of them men. Their gatherings were a composite portrait of the arts and letters of their time, their individual histories, and the diversity of these figures' backgrounds and accents. Boswell, a landed Scot, is the most frequently quoted. A faithfully rendered Scottish accent is a feature some listeners may take pleasure in; others, not so much. Nonetheless, the narrative is rich, insightful, often quite bawdy, and performed with perfect expression, grace, and understanding. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2019]