John Kendrick Bangs

A House Boat on the Styx John Kendrick Bangs

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.