ISBN Three Men in a Boat & Three Men on the Bummel

The question of why some books 'date' while some remain relevant and readable is one that has long puzzled writers, critics, and readers. THREE MEN IN A BOAT was published in 1889, was an immediate hit, and has never been out of print. After hearing about it all my life, I finally got around to reading it several years ago and am so glad to have it on my Kindle.The author acquired his odd name from his father, who changed his own name from Jerome Clapp to Jerome Clapp Jerome and named his son after himself. At some stage the son changed his middle name to Klapa. The family was impoverished after the father's early death and the son received little education. At various times he worked for the railroad, as an actor, as a school teacher, and as a law clerk. He started writing humorous essays in the early 1880's and had several books of collected essays published. He hit the jackpot when he wrote THREE MEN IN A BOAT which (oddly enough) was actually based on his honeymoon on a small boat on the Thames River.Either Mrs. Jerome didn't care to be featured in a book or her husband figured that he could get more comic situations out of a stag party. Whatever the reason, the characters are the narrator, his friends Harris and George, and Montmorency - a fox terrier who thinks he's a Great Dane. The three young men are all suffering from a variety of imaginary ailments (Montmorency is in fine fettle) and decide that they will spend their holidays sailing up the Thames.It's difficult to say why the book is so entertaining, except that the humor is sly and yet very realistic. Although styles in clothing, food, and camping gear have changed dramatically, three guys setting out on such a trip today would have pretty much the same mix-ups, snafus, and snits as this trio. Human nature hasn't changed. This book was such a hit that the leisure activity of boating on the Thames became wildly popular and has been so ever since. Today, England has restored many of the canals that moved goods in past centuries and boating trips and even living permanently on boats is a huge industry. This author was never able to replicate his success in his later books, but he definitely left his mark. If you haven't read this one, you should.