''Augustus Carp, Esq., By Himself: Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man'' is a comic novel, originally anonymous, first published in the United Kingdom in May 1924 and, later that year, by

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

in the United States. The author was an English physician, Sir

Henry Howarth Bashford Sir Henry Howarth Bashford (13 January 1880 – 15 August 1961) was a distinguished English physician, becoming Honorary Physician to King George VI. He was also an author, most notably of satirical novels. Early life Bashford was born in Ke ...

(1880–1961), and the illustrations were by "Robin" ( Marjorie Blood). "Churchwarden, Sunday-school superintendent and President of the St Potamus Purity League, Augustus Carp Esquire is the unflinching opponent of Sin in all its manifestations. Glorious in his mediocrity, assiduous in exposing the faults of everyone he meets, resolute in the pursuit of goodness and his own advancement, the dimensions of his piety are matched only by his girth."''Augustus Carp Esq, by Himself: Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man''. Published by Penguin Books, 1987 In his preface to a 1986 edition of the book (published as a postscript to the 1987 Penguin edition),

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

wrote:''Augustus Carp Esq, by himself: being the autobiography of a really good man''. First published in Bookmasters, 1985, by the Boydell Press, an imprint of Boydell and Brewer Ltd, Fifth Printing, 1986

The book you have in your hands or hand or on your knee is one of the great comic novels of the twentieth century.

In the same edition of that book,

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wr ...

wrote:

One of those little masterpieces that seems to pop up from nowhere: a sovereign cure for morbid thoughts and lack of lustre.

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 ''Carry ...

also greatly enjoyed the book:

I had a great deal of trouble at the microphone when I read ''Augustus Carp'' for the BBC, caused by the need to stifle my laughter.

In his preface to the 1987 Penguin edition Robert Robinson wrote: "... the Carps are hugely unsympathetic, ... meanness and spite are elevated to operatic levels of booming humbug. It is part of the creative mystery that such a scenario should break the narrow bounds of what might simply have been based on a rather snooty view of lower-middle-class bigotry, and become a much less easily defined thing - a sort of fairy-tale."

Adaptations

'Story Time' BBC Radio 4 FM. A ten-part adaptation read by

, beginning Fri. 27th. July 1979, at 16:35. Producer: Pamela Howe, for BBC Radio Bristol.

References

{{authority control

External links

Full text of the novel with illustrationsReview of ''Augustus Carp, Esq.''
on

The Neglected Books Page ''The Neglected Books Page'' is a book review website. The site features reviews of books that have been, according to the site, "neglected, overlooked, forgotten, or stranded by changing tides in critical or popular taste." The site was founded i ...

1924 books Satirical books