J is for Jerome K Jerome

Jerome K. Jerome – Where He Fits In History

Jerome K. Jerome was born in May 1859 in England. This was the year that Oregon was admitted to the union as the 33rd state, Charles Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, and John Brown led that famous raid on Harper’s Ferry as the country inched closer and closer to Civil War.

With the heart of a writer and playwright, Jerome instead spent a good part of his life working for the railroad company. After returning from his honeymoon, he sat down to begin work on perhaps his most famous story: Three Men in a Boat. This is the story of three men on a boating trip down the Thames river and the comical moments through the trip.

Are you a Jeromian? I bet you will be once you read one of these books!

The Three Men in a Boat book was on the shelves in my living room as a child. I never read it, as it wasn’t an adventure tale. But it turns out that it happens to be one of my husband’s most favorite authors. As he put it, “Jerome’s books are hysterically funny!”

As an adult I went back and read a few of his books and, yes, this is an author with a rare combination of wit and humor in a style all his own. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t ever read one.

Selected Books

• The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
• Three Men in a Boat (to say Nothing of The Dog)
  
• Three Men on the Bummel
• Paul Kelver

Here is a rare video of Jerome K Jerome receiving an award as an elderly gentleman in the 1920’s

Come back next week and read about another author, or click here to read some past authors we highlighted.

But in the meantime, join me and my fantastic co-hosts as we link up all of our “J is for” posts!

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