Well-known book but not easy. Clever defence of Anglicanism/Lutheranism against Catholicism and Calvinism through analogy. Full of obscure references which require a detailed knowledge of the historical period. What the tub is I did not gather.

Jonathan Swift is a brilliant satirist and if I was a contemporary of Swift's or aware of the issues he was mocking, then I might have enjoyed this book. Instead, this short book is filled with long digressions mocking organized religion or possibly government. I have to admit that about half way through I was completely lost and really not following his mockery.

If I had been reading this book in print, I would have saved my place with a bookmark and put it back on the shelf to revisit later, maybe after I learned more about the times. But this was a book that I had subscribed to through Daily Lit, which sends installments every day via email. This is the 2nd book that I've tried this way and I have to say that I don't think this format of reading works for me. The installments are all the same length so sometimes I found myself wanting to read more, or wanting to walk away and then return to the book. But once I was half way through a LONG email, I felt like I had to finish it and it was more like slogging through required reading vs. reading for pleasure. ( )

Swift's Tale of a Tub may not be as well known as Gulliver's Travels, but it is perhaps his signature work. The Tale is a rambling, frequently scathing satire directed at Catholics, Calvinists, Authors, Critics, and a host of leading intellectuals of Swift's day. It has moments that are very funny, and finds some pretty inventive ways to skewer its targets. Much of it is targeted at people and issues that have long since been forgotten, making it somewhat unaccessable to the modern reader. The appended Battle of the Books is short, accessible, and pretty funny. ( )

Jonathan Swift ; edited with an introduction by Angus Ross and David Woolley