Don Quixote

First published in 1605, Don Quixote was originally intended as a skit on traditional popular ballads and a parody of the romances of chivalry. The addled idealism of Don Quixote, a poor country gentleman whose love of chivalric romances has driven him insane, and the earthy acquisitiveness of his squire, Sancho Panza, propel them into a series of adventures involving characters from every level of society. In Quixote's imagination he is a noble knight, issuing heroic challenges against absurdly everyday objects. Only the common sense of Panza brings Quixote down to earth.

More than an adventure story, Don Quixote is rich in characters—not only in its principal characters, but in the many minor personages, some of whom make only a single appearance. Together, they are as lively a bunch as ever Chaucer rode to Canterbury with. This audio recording re-creates the novel's marvelous characters, uproarious adventures, and exciting escapes in lively, contemporary English.