A Sentimental Journey tells the story of Mr. Yorick's travels through France and Italy and parodies contemporary travel works, most notably those by Smollett. Celebrated in its day as the forefather of "a school of sentimental writers," this work has outlasted its many imitators because of the humor and mischievous eroticism that pervade Mr. Yorick's travels.
On his journey to France and Italy, Yorick gets little further than Lyons but finds much to appreciate, in contrast to contemporary travel writers whom Sterne satirizes in the figures of Smelfungus and Mundungus. A master of ambiguity and double entendre, Sterne is nevertheless as concerned as his peers with exploring the nature of virtue and unlike other writers of sentimental fiction Sterne insists on the inseparability of desire and feeling.
This new edition includes a selection from The Sermons of Mr. Yorick as well as The Journal to Eliza and A Political Romance, both works that shed light on A Sentimental Journey.