Samuel Johnson is today far too little read, enjoyed, and appreciated. Ironically, Boswell is now perhaps as famous as the man he set out to immortalize, but Johnson himself, whom Dr. Maclean of Mull declared was "just a hogshead of sense," has far more to say to us than Boswell, and certainly more to say about things of pressing interest to the ordinary man of our age. Curwen has sifted everything that Johnson wrote, as well as his reported conversations, to present the sage in all his moods and on a wide range of subjects reading and writing, youth and age, wooing and wedding, law and government, religion, education, business, and his fellow men. Sources for each quotation, a list of suggested reading, and an excellent index are included. Pulitzer Prize winner Jackson Bate said this of Mr. Curwen"s sampler, "The finest collection, by far, of the wit and wisdom of the most quotable of writers. Time and again, in whatever direction we go, we meet Johnson returning on the way back."