Dickens: The Funny Bits

by Charles Dickens, Nick Hornby (Foreword by), R.J. Cruickshank (Introduction)

Overview

A hilarious anthology of the funniest bits from Dickens’ novels, with a foreword by bestselling author Nick Hornby.

Dickens: The Funny Bits is a brilliant anthology of the funniest extracts from Dickens’ novels featuring his famous comic characters such as the Artful Dodger, Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Micawber, Dick Swiveller, Mr. Wopsle, and the Aged P.

Organized by novel, the extracts act as standalone vignettes or set pieces and are illustrated with the much-loved line drawings from the early editions, including work by George Cruikshank, Phiz, John Leech, and Marcus Stone. Complete with an introduction from author Nick Hornby, this work also includes passages from Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol, as well as the unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood. This work is a super gift for any Dickens fan as well as any reader with an appreciation of the power of humor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781851246434
Publisher:	Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Publication date:	01/05/2025
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.80(h) x (d)

About the Author

Charles Dickens (1812-70) was a renowned novelist, editor, and essayist whose work includes Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol.


Nick Hornby is the bestselling author of eight novels, including Just Like You, Funny Girl, High Fidelity, and About a Boy. He has also written numerous award-winning screenplays for film and television including An Education, Brooklyn, Wild, and, most recently, State of the Union.


R.J. Cruikshank (1898-1956) was the editor of the News Chronicle (founded by Charles Dickens as the Daily News in 1846) and the author of, among other books, Charles Dickens and Early Victorian England.

Date of Birth:

February 7, 1812

Date of Death:

June 18, 1870

Place of Birth:

Portsmouth, England

Place of Death:

Gad's Hill, Kent, England

Education:

Home-schooling; attended Dame School at Chatham briefly and Wellington

Table of Contents

Foreword by Nick Hornby
The Humour of Dickens by R.J. Cruikshank
David Copperfield
The boy and the waiter
Barkis is willing
The comfort of skeletons
The micawbers at home
The cheerful economist
Our Mutual Friend
Podsnap enlightens the foreigner
Dinner at veneering’s
Boffin engages his reader
The cherub
Mrs wilfer
Oliver Twist
Japanning the trotter-cases
The artful dodger and the magistrate
The last word
Nicholas Nickleby
The demdest little fascinator
Show business
The infant phenomenon
Little Dorrit
Mr f.’s aunt
Varnish
A legal triumph
Dombey & Son
Blimber’s hothouse
Miss tox introduces the toodles
Bleak House
Skimpole
An arrest for debt
Mrs jellyby sees nothing nearer than africa
Young man of the name of guppy
Old soldiers
Chadband
Mrs bayham badger’s third
The model of deportment
Great Expectations
Wemmick and the aged
Jaggers cross-examines
Wopsle plays Hamlet
The pockets
The Pickwick Papers
The lady in yellow curlpapers
Adventures of jingle
The poetess
The trial
The Old Curiosity Shop
Quilp’s return
Dick swiveller and the marchioness
Swiveller’s topography
Mrs jarley presents
Swiveller’s farewell
Kit laughs
Hard Times
Sissy jupe learns facts
Breaking the news
Barnaby RudgeThe locksmith’s ’prentice
Martin Chuzzlewit
Pecksniff presides
Portrait of mrs gamp
Visitors for miss pinch
Metaphor
The Haunted Man
Little moloch
Edwin Drood
At billickins
The bully of philanthropy
A Christmas Carol
Mr fezziwig’s ball
Contagious laughter