Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow

Jerome. K. Jerome allows us to laugh, with and at, both himself and ourselves in his writing. As we peruse his “Idle Thoughts” on subjects ranging from babies to ambition, from dogs to poverty, we find that the dust of over a hundred years have not dimmed the mirror in which we look.

Jerome, as in his other comic works presents a seeming stream of consciousness that can shift in a moment from the ridiculous to the sublime, from self-deprecation to intense longing.

Such “Idle Thoughts” will not be in vain while we can still recognise that humanity changes very little over the ages, and while we can still laugh at ourselves.

1. Opening Credits
2. Dedication
3. Preface
4. On Being Idle
5. On Being in Love
6. On Being in the Blues
7. On Being Hard Up
8. On Vanity and Vanities
9. On Getting on in the World
10. On the Weather
11. On Cats and Dogs
12. On Being Shy
13. On Babies
14. On Eating and Drinking
15. On Furnished Apartments
16. On Dress and Deportment
17. On Memory
18. Closing Credits