The Man Who Did Not Believe in Happiness

For Russian readers, the name Jerome K. Jerome embodies English humor and is inextricably linked to the brilliant novel «Three Men in a Boat, Not Counting the Dog», which has been translated into dozens of languages and filmed many times.... Meanwhile, the writer's oeuvre includes other novels, plays, humorous essays, and stories that often unjustly remain in the shadow of his famous masterpiece.

This edition presents Jerome's stories, most of which are published in new translations; originally, these works appeared in London literary magazines and were later published as separate collections: «Stories Told After Dinner» (1891), «John Ingerfield and Other Stories» (1894), «Studies in Lavender, Blue and Green» (1897). Alongside uproariously funny stories, where one can easily guess the sparkling author of the novel «Three Men in a Boat», there are also those that reveal new facets of the writer's work. As the author himself admitted, they were written «not to provoke laughter», but to address the mysteries of the subconscious and the paradoxes of the human soul, our hidden desires and fears, as well as that thin line that separates us from the world of inexplicable and strange phenomena.