John Barth

The Sot-Weed Factor is a 1960 novel by John Barth that satirizes picaresque novels such as Tristram Shandy and Tom Jones. It tells the story of an English poet named Ebenezer Cooke who is given the title "Poet Laureate of Maryland" by Charles Calvert. He undergoes many adventures on his journey to Maryland and while in Maryland, all the while striving to preserve his innocence. The book takes its title from the grand poem that Cooke composes throughout the story, which was originally intended to sing the praises of Maryland, but ends up being a biting satire based on his disillusioning experiences. Barth's book and the characters within are based on a 1707 book of the same name, by the real Ebenezer Cooke. An April 1708 advertisement from the front-matter of Old Bailey Proceedings reads: THE Sot-weed Factor: Or, a Voyage to Maryland, a Satyr. In which is describ'd, the Laws, Governments, Courts and Constitutions of the Country; and also the Buildings, Feasts, Frolicks, Entertainments and Drunken Humours of the Inhabitants of that Part of America. In Burle que Verse. By Eben. Cook, Gent.