Henry Carter Hull

(Excerpt): "The Doctor never did believe this story, but claims for it that, to a great extent, it has altered his whole outlook on life." Of course, what actually happened-what took place under my own nose," continued the Doctor, "I do not dispute. And then there is the case of Mrs. Marigold. That was unfortunate, I admit, and still is, especially for Marigold. But, standing by itself, it proves nothing. These fluffy, giggling women-as often as not...

In his dedication page to Stage-Land (published in 1889), Jerome K. Jerome writes: "To that highly respectable but unnecessarily retiring individual of whom we hear so much but see so little, the earnest student of the drama, this (comparatively) truthful little book is lovingly dedicated." He then proceeds to humorously, and often with scathing precision, examine those characters who inhabit the world of the stage, namely, such hilarious stereotypes...

A Play in four acts. (Excerpt): "Time:—Afternoon. (Mrs. Elizabeth Spender sits near the fire, reading a book. She is a tall, thin woman, with passionate eyes, set in an oval face of olive complexion; the features are regular and severe; her massive dark hair is almost primly arranged. She wears a tailor-made costume, surmounted by a plain black hat. The door opens and Phoebe enters, shown in by Hake, the butler, a thin, ascetic-looking man of about...

A play in three acts.

A really intriguing short story about the lives of three couples in their forties, who are given the chance to go back through time, at the age of 20, with the knowledge of the future. What would a young person do, knowing that following his instinct would most probably lead to his wretchedness? How does one differentiate between reality and dream? How frightened is one, knowingly deciding to take the same steps in life the second time as he did the...

Although not the equal of his "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" (1886), one can still find sublime passages here and there that demonstrate the occasional genius of a wonderful observer and humorist. The passages are worth reading the rest.

(Excerpt): "The most extraordinary dream I ever had was one in which I fancied that, as I was going into a theater, the cloak-room attendant stopped me in the lobby and insisted on my leaving my legs behind me. I was not surprised; indeed, my acquaintanceship with theater harpies would prevent my feeling any surprise at such a demand, even in my waking moments; but I was, I must honestly confess, considerably annoyed. It was not the payment of the...

'On the Stage - and Off: The Brief Career of a Would-be Actor' was Jerome K. Jerome's first published book. It is a lightly fictionalised memoir, rather in the style of 'Three Men in a Boat', with its hapless narrator detailing his inglorious adventures in the lower reaches of the late Victorian theatrical world, amongst its seedy theatres, drunken actors and dodgy managers. It is based on Jerome's own early experiences as an aspiring thesp. The title...

There are two kinds of clocks. There is the clock that is always wrong, and that knows it is wrong, and glories in it; and there is the clock that is always right-except when you rely upon it, and then it is more wrong than you would think a clock could be in a civilized country.

"Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green" is a collection of 18 essays by Jerome Klapka Jerome, an outstanding British writer and humourist (1859—1927). In an ironical form, the author tells about ordinary people, conventional manners, ups and downs, about outstanding individuals and common herd, in which a reader will be able to see himself or his acquaintances.