"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Mr. Alfred Polly is a dyspeptic, miserably married shopkeeper in what he terms that "Beastly Silly Wheeze of a hole!"--Fishbourne, England. He is inclined to spark arguments and slapstick calamity wherever he goes. Education was lost on him: when he left school at 14, "his mind was in much the same state that you would be in, dear reader, if you were operated upon for appendicitis by a well-meaning, boldly enterprising, but rather overworked and underpaid butcher boy, who was superseded towards the climax of the operation by a left-handed clerk of high principles but intemperate habits... the operators had left, so to speak, all their sponges and ligatures in the mangled confusion." Still, Polly's mind burns with eccentric genius, and his thwarted romantic heart beats him senseless. His despair results in the most amusing suicide attempt this side of Lisa Alther's novel Kinflicks. We won't spoil the surprise by saying precisely how his scheme misfires--and beware: the introduction gives it away. Note that you can't expect Polly to do anything right, and of course he'll become an inadvertent hero to the whole town. Then he promptly vanishes for further misadventure.
Many critics compare Mr. Polly's broad social satire to Dickens, but it smacks of Mark Twain and the dialect humor of Finley Peter Dunne's Mr. Dooley too. "I think it is one of my good books," Wells opined. What makes it so is Polly's heroic incompetence, his subversion of Edwardian propriety, and his bewildered unawareness that he is a revolutionary. --Tim Appelo
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 3246093-n
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780141441078
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0141441070
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 272. Seller Inventory # 26660542
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Rediscover H.G. Wells - what does he mean to you?Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and killing himself. Unexpected events, however, conspire at the last moment to lead the bewildered Mr Polly to a bright new future - after he saves a life, fakes his death, and escapes to a life of heroism, hope and ultimate happiness. Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and killing himself. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780141441078
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 272. Seller Inventory # 8236001
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780141441078
Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Seller Inventory # bk0141441070xvz189zvxnew
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and killing himself. Seller Inventory # B9780141441078
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. new edition. 272 pages. 7.75x5.25x0.75 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0141441070