The Author's Farce; and, The Pleasures of the Town: Fielding's play presents his audience with a rather cynical panorama of early 18th century literary life, from the perspective of an embattled aristocrat. Divided into two segments, The Author's Farce mocks several aspects of literary production and consumption: the fickle and uneducated tastes of the town, the death of 'real' artistry, the new mechanistic commericalization of literature, and the human drudgery--both sadly automatic and ridiculously, absurdly grotesque--that supports this brave new world. In the framing play, Luckless, the starving poet, tries unsuccessfully to sell his work; in the play-within-a-play, the puppet-show that Luckless eventually foists upon the town is performed.