The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

First published in 1759, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a humorous novel by Laurence Sterne. It purports to be a biography of the eponymous character. Its style is marked by digression, double entendre, and graphic devices. Sterne had read widely, which is reflected in Tristram Shandy. Many of his similes, for instance, are reminiscent of the works of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century, and the novel as a whole, with its focus on the problems of language, has constant regard to John Locke's theories in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.