Books in Prion Humour Classics series

“The more I think about myself, the more—I say it in all modesty—the subject seems to grow.” So begins The Eliza Stories, and although the book takes Eliza’s name, her husband is revealed to be the true comic hero, as he displays a self-importance that far outstrips his modest station in Edwardian suburbia. Eliza uncomplainingly smoothes over arguments and watches from the sidelines as her other half tries to scramble up the social ladder. From insulting the domestic staff to ill-advisedly lending money to social superiors, our narrator is by turns patronizing and authoritarian. And just when you think you can’t stand anymore, their son Ernest brings a new and sinister twist to the tale. Written and set in the early 1900s, this is a comic gem.

In My Life and Hard Times, James Thurber depicts the idiosyncrasies of human beings with a unique and humorous autobiography that diverts the reader and helps them to laugh at life. In a personal collection of stories such as "The Day the Dam Broke" and "The Night the Ghost Got In," Thurber rambles conversationally about his youth the early 1900s, keeping away from politics and big events and instead focusing on the "little perils of routine living" that pepper the lives of the ordinary people. By describing ridiculous events such as an entire town fleeing from a nonexistent flood, Thurber points out humans' lack of common sense and the foolishness that results. His short anecdotes help the reader not only to laugh at the characters and events in his book, but also at the reader's own life. However, Thurber finds no fault with people, instead laughing good naturedly and accepting them as a part of life. Memorable characters, ranging from Thurber's often insane grandfather to a slew of unique housemaids, add humor to the stories with their zany antics. The author's scribbled illustrations, scattered throughout the novel, increase the informal atmosphere.

Affectionately combining both the idyllic and ironic, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is Stephen Leacock's most beloved book. Set in fictional Mariposa, an Ontario town on the shore of Lake Wissanotti, these sketches present a remarkable range of characters: some irritating, some exasperating, some foolhardy, but all endearing. Painted with the skilful brushstrokes of a great comic artist, the delightful inhabitants of Mariposa represent the people of small towns everywhere. As fresh, funny, and insightful today as when it was first published in 1912, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is Stephen Leacock at his best€”colorful, imaginative, and thoroughly entertaining.

"Why should I not publish my diary? I have often seen reminiscences of people I have never even heard of, and I fail to see, because I do not happen to be a "Somebody," why my diary should not be interesting." So wrote the anxious, accident-prone, occasionally waspish, Charles Pooter, who has come to be seen as the epitome of English suburban life. His diary chronicles encounters with difficult tradesmen, the delights of home improvements, small parties, minor embarrassments, and problems with his troublesome son. The suburban world he inhabits is hilariously and painfully familiar in its small-mindedness and its essential decency. Wonderfully illustrated with Grossmith's line drawings, this very amusing Victorian comedy created in Charles Pooter a cultual icon and English archetype. Both celebration and critique, Diary of a Nobody has often been imitated, but never duplicated.

Harris, George, and J. are three Victorian idlers: amiable buffoons who love their food, their drink, and their bachelor home comforts. They're none too keen on work either, especially George, who sleeps at a bank in the City from 10 to 4 every day- "except on Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two." Yet their communal hypochondria has reached such a jittery level that they decide a change of scene would do them good. And why not a trip up the Thames in an open boat? What could be more relaxing than the natural simplicity of the river? As they set out armed with tobacco, whiskey, a frying pan, and a distinct lack of outdoor skills-accompanied by their faithful dog Montmorency (whose idea of heaven is fighting other dogs)-they find their idyll isn't quite all they bargained for. This is humorous story-telling at its very best.