Why read Three Men in a Boat?

Book cover of Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog

Book description

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a two-week boating holiday on the Thames from Kingston upon Thames to Oxford and back to Kingston. The book was initially intended to be a…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Three Men in a Boat as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

David Baboulene

Author

Growing up, I only read humour.

I just love to laugh and when a book has you making the pictures in mind for yourself and laughing out loud, there really is nothing better. And Three Men in a Boat sends me directly to the floor every time I read it, and I will never stop reading it as long as I live.

It is rightly a classic and still in the shops nearly 140 years later. My book is a homage to Three Men in a Boat. I followed the style and form, and acknowledge Jerome K Jerome in my…

From David's list on humorous travel that also deliver great stories.

Alex Bernstein

Author

Before Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Black Adder, and Douglas Adams, there was Jerome K. Jerome and Three Men in a Boat. While probably the least familiar name on this list, 3MB holds up astonishingly well today. Initially, the book was intended to be a travel guide, but the humorous elements of the narrative took hold and wouldn’t let go. The story takes the simple premise of three highly civilized British friends deciding to weather all the myriad discomforts of a simple camping trip. Despite predating all the modern greats of British comedy, 3MB has a very similar tone…

From Alex's list on century old humor that remains funny today.