Three Men in a Boat 1

Jerome K. Jerome's tale of three well-to-do Englishmen, and one dog, on a boating expedition along the Thames is rightly famous as a comic classic. Jerome's masterful style turns even the most mundane events into a series of hilarious epics, from a visit to the doctor, to cooking breakfast, steering a punt or learning to play the banjo. But behind the light-hearted buffoonery and nimble-witted prose Jerome manages to weave into the story a pungent sarcasm, a pointed critique on both the self-centred nature of the English upper class, and the many ills of Victorian society. First published in 1889 Jerome K. Jerome's classic tale of boating misadventure has become the quintessential example of the charm and wit of Victorian England.