This comic novel by brothers George and Weedon Grossmith remains as entertaining and relevant today as the day it was first published.
When it first appeared as a Punch magazine serial in 1888-89, The Diary of a Nobody became a minor sensation for its quirkiness and wit. George Grossmith was already an accomplished musical entertainer, having contributed to Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas during the 1870s and 1880s, while Weedon was a notable actor and playwright. Combining their talents into this book, the result is an astute and amusing social satire with plentiful relevance even today.
Much of The Diary of a Nobody's humour is derived from the protagonist's unwarranted sense of self-importance. Charles Pooter commonly affirms his sense of worthiness the text, but in actuality undergoes a series of small humiliations in social life, all the while striving for goals which had become common tropes of the lower-middle classes in English society. Much of the novel is set at 'The Laurels', the '"a nice six-roomed residence, not counting basement" belonging to Pooter and his wife.
The late Victorian era was a time of aspiration for a growing middle class in England. The self-ascribing of value and the pomposity that commonly resulted was recognised by many ordinary people, who were amused by this book's perceptive skewering of such everyday attitudes. Gradually over decades, The Diary of a Nobody gained a cult following of literary personages and critics, who acted to promote and bring the book to a larger audience.
This edition contains the text in full, with no abridgments.
