A review by jasonfurman
The Adventures of John Carson in Several Quarters of the World: A Novel of Robert Louis Stevenson by Brian Doyle

4.0

A decent entry into the books about writers and the fictional stories behind the books they wrote--in this case Robert Louis Stevenson. And a decent entry into the imitation fiction genre, in this case writing a book in the mode of Stevenson based solely off the title of a book Stevenson appears to have planned to write but never did. Not outstanding at either, like much of this type it made me want to go back and read South Sea Tales yet again, but decent. If anything my biggest objection is that this was essentially a linked set of stories that promised more as a unified novel than it ultimately delivered. But the writing was perfectly good, most of the chapters interesting enough, and it made a tiny slice of Stevenson's life come vividly alive--the year 1879 that he spent roaming the streets of San Francisco before he wrote Treasure Island or any of his other significant fiction.