I found this slightly-battered softcover with the Ronald Searle cover-art at a local Savers thrift shop, and nabbed it for another release copy.

I really enjoy Jerome's writing. The chatty/snarky tone, slightly peevish when the narrator is feeling put-upon (which he often is) and more than slightly smug the rest of the time, is great fun, and there are some surprisingly lyrical descriptive passages sprinkled among the humor. Jerome managed to make me want to take a boat up the canals even as he described the drawbacks of doing so. "Glad I'm not there" warred with "wish I could do that" at almost every turn!

This is one of those books that I studded with markers as I read, since so many hilarious passages struck me as quote-worthy, only to find that I'd have to cite the whole book, so I've tried to limit myself.

Here's a sample of Jerome-ian philosophy:

"How good one feels when one is full - how satisfied with ourselves and with the world! People who have tried it, tell me that a clear conscience makes you very happy and contented; but a full stomach does the business quite as well, and is cheaper, and more easily obtained."

And this one, when he's been tapped to take a turn steering the boat:

"It always does seem to me that I am doing more work than I should do. It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours."

I've also enjoyed an unabridged-audio version of this, via Audible.com. And there's a 1956 film version, which I found amusing if not especially faithful to the book.

The TV Tropes page for the book is quite entertaining, btw.

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I left the book in the Little Free Library on this grey day; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2021 Movie challenge. ***