The Wrong Box

by Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osborne

Overview

The Wrong Box is one of Robert Louis Stevenson's strangest works. Written with his stepson Lloyd Osborne, it is a masterpiece of black comedy, turning on mistaken identity, the disappearance of a corpse, and several makeshift coffins. V. S. Pritchett described it as "a farce that slips down the throat with the nicety of an oyster," and, according to E. F. Benson, it is "perhaps the most superb extravaganza in the language." In this intriguing work, the Finsbury family has long been involved in a Tontine - a scheme in which subscribers invest money in a fund which them falls to the last survivor. Now there are only two aged uncles between Morris and John Finsbury and their fortune. A railway accident appears to dispose of one, and then the farce begins. In this eccentric and brilliantly plotted story, the authors not only extended the boundaries of good taste, but also satirized the popular Railway Novel genre, perplexing many Victorian readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781410100344
Publisher:	Fredonia Books (NL)
Publication date:	09/30/2002
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) was a prolific author of stories for children and adults and is best known as the author of Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and Treasure Island. Lloyd Osbourne (1868-1947) was an American author and Stevenson's stepson.

Date of Birth:

November 13, 1850

Date of Death:

December 3, 1894

Place of Birth:

Edinburgh, Scotland

Place of Death:

Vailima, Samoa

Education:

Edinburgh University, 1875