Other editions of book A House-Boat on the Styx

The House-Boat is a genteel club for gentlemen souls of all times and places. The book is composed of humorous and satirical (and often snarky) dialogues between unlikely sets of historical characters. It is brief, light-hearted, and quite entertaining. Fans of Alan Moore's graphic novel Promethea may recognize the title. In Promethea, John Kendrick Bangs is a distant relative of the main character, and she meets him in Yesod, the realm of imagination, on the very house-boat he created in his novel.

The premise of the book is that everyone who has ever died (up to the time in which the book is set, which seems to be about the time of its publication) has gone to Styx, the river that circles the underworld. The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx being startled—and annoyed—by the arrival of a houseboat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed the boat's janitor. What follows are eleven more stories (for a total of twelve) which are set on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the purpose of the book appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history and mythology. In the twelfth chapter the house boat disappears, leading into the sequel, Pursuit of the House-Boat.

The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx startled--and annoyed--by the arrival of a house boat on his mystical river. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is to be appointed the boat's janitor. What follows are eleven stories set on the house boat. There is no central theme; each chapter features various souls from history and mythology, and in the twelfth chapter the house boat disappears, seguing into the sequel, Pursuit of the House-Boat.

The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx startled--and annoyed--by the arrival of a house boat on his mystical river. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is to be appointed the boat's janitor. What follows are eleven stories set on the house boat. There is no central theme; each chapter features various souls from history and mythology, and in the twelfth chapter the house boat disappears, seguing into the sequel, Pursuit of the House-Boat

The premise of the book is that everyone who has ever died (up to the time in which the book is set, which seems to be about the time of its publication) has gone to Styx, the river that circles the underworld.The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx being startled—and annoyed—by the arrival of a houseboat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed the boat's janitor.What follows are eleven more stories (for a total of twelve) which are set on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the purpose of the book appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history and mythology. In the twelfth chapter the house boat disappears, leading into the sequel, The Pursuit of the House-Boat.

The book begins with Charon, boatman of the Styx surprised and annoyed by the arrival of a houseboat in the Styx. At first, afraid that the boat will leave him without a job, he discovers that he must actually be appointed as the ship's janitor. What follows are eleven more stories (for a total of twelve) that are mounted on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the purpose of the book seems to be an experiment in literary thought to see what would happen if several famous dead people were put in the same room. Each chapter is a short story that presents several souls of history and mythology. In the twelfth chapter, the boat of the house disappears, which leads to the continuation, The search for the house-boat.