The comic masterpiece TRISTRAM SHANDY by Sterne is generally regarded as the progenitor of the 20th century novel. Set in the Shandy's small parlour and garden, the book, narrated by Tristram, consists of a plot frequently and flagrantly interrupted by digressions. tristram insists on beginning the book at the moment of his own conception, but provides no consistent thread or conclusion to his tale. Shrewd and Bawdy, he is filled with such vitality that his words can scarcely keep up with his headlong thought. The characters that people his account include his excitable father, Walter, Uncle Toby, the bewildered Mrs Shandy, impulsive Parson Yoric and Dr Slop, incompetent Physician. Impossible and hilarious Tristram Shandy defies definitions and turns conventions on their head even while laying the very foundations of great modern writing.