Three Men in a Boat

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) is a comic novel written by English author Jerome K. Jerome that chronicles the antics of three mates on a two-week boating holiday on the Thames. Originally planned as a travel guide featuring articles of local historical interest, the humorous elements quickly overshadowed the serious and quaint elements and Jerome wisely tailored it as a somewhat slapstick comedy. The three men are based on Jerome and two friends, a senior manager at Barclays and the founder of a London printing press. The dog, Montmorency, is entirely fictional, but sprang from “that area of inner consciousness which, in all Englishmen, contains an element of the dog”, according to Jerome. The book appeared at a time in the 1880’s when the commercial traffic on the Thames had largely disappeared and a mania for boating took hold as a leisure activity. Although critical reception was lukewarm at best, the book sold in huge quantities and has been in print since publication in 1889. The Guardian ranked it number 25 on its 2015 list of The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time and Esquire placed it at number 2 on its 2009 list of Funniest Books Ever. It has been adapted for the stage and at least six times for film and television.