Weedon Grossmith – författare

First serialized in Punch in 1888, The Diary of a Nobody is the record of fifteen months in the life of Charles Pooter—a mundane and upright city clerk—his family, friends, and small circle of acquaintances. It is a humorous record of the manners, customs, and experiences of Londoners in the late-Victorian era. The term “Pooterish,” which denotes someone who takes himself excessively seriously has remained a part of British parlance ever since. The book itself has never been out of print since its original publication in 1892.

Says Charles Pooter, “I fail to see—because I do not happen to be a ‘somebody’—why my diary should not be interesting.” Surprisingly, Mr. Pooter’s life is fascinating. The fascination is two-fold: firstly, his astounding arrogance that we should care about his domestic trivia and narcissistic scribblings. Secondly, we can all sympathize with (and wince at!) this ridiculous slave to convention.

Above all, Mr. Pooter’s life is funny. His constant battles with tradesmen, his pathetic pride and banal wit, his clashes with his carefree son, his absurd social crises and petty dilemmas: all are part of Mr. Pooter’s life as a worried, proud, and anxious Nobody! Listeners are certain to learn why Hilaire Belloc asserted that Pooter was “an immortal achievement.”

- The updated 1910 edition.

- Contains a note from the authors, written 1892.

- Features all 33 original illustrations by Weedon Grossmith.

- Bonus features: a publisher’s note and letters from Lord Roseberry and Augustine Birrell, MP.

- An extract from an essay by Hilaire Belloc, MP.

- Fully searchable table of contents.

- Exquisitely formatted and presented in e-book form.

The Grossmith brothers’ comedic masterpiece allows us a peek inside the diaries of the absurdly self-important Charles Pooter, a London banker frustrated by life at every turn.

Detailing the snubs and disappointments and gaffes that befall the hapless Pooter, The Diary of a Nobody has been an laugh-out-loud success for well over a century.

As former prime minister Lord Roseberry says in the notes to this Apostrophe Books edition: “I regard any bedroom I occupy as unfurnished without a copy of it.”