A review by frankiefurter
Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

having joined the ranks of the twelve people in the world who have actually made it through this book, i am pleased to report it a thoroughly enjoyable romp: an example of dickens’s early manic energy and excess at its finest. apart from being one of the funniest novels i’ve encountered (with a great deal of excellent satire on american life, the american press, and americans in general) it has something profound to say—beneath the often overwrought meditations on the corrupting influence of Self—on the immeasurable social value of being kind to strangers, and of keeping cheerful when things get rough. characteristically saccharine at times and far from flawless, but absolutely a worthwhile read regardless.