The Improvised Life of Polycarp Jarvis

(Paperback)

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Description

An exuberant, life-affirming novel of taking your chances

After a spur-of-the-moment day out with his boss' daughter in celebration of his 21st birthday, Polycarp Jarvis decides to quit his Bristol-based junior government worker job. Newly emboldened, he embarks on an erratic, engaging and not always strictly legal course through life.

Going from bus driver for the Red Dragon Motor Company to co-owner of a flying company, to seller of quack medicines, and eventually to media tycoon, Polycarp makes much of his luck along the way. Through ups and downs, his exuberance and charm carry him through.

But what kind of person will he be by the end

This gentle coming-of-age story was hugely popular on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today.

Reviews

Praise for Victor Canning:

Quite delightful with an atmosphere of quiet contentment and humour thatcannot fail to charmDaily Telegraph

There issuch a gentle humourin the bookDaily Sketch

What counts for most in the story is hismounting pleasure in vagabondage and the English sceneThe Times

A paean to the beauties of the English countryside andthe lovable oddities of the English characterNew York Times

His delight at the beauties of the countryside and hismild astonishment at the strange ways of men are infectiousDaily Telegraph

A swift-moving novel,joyous, happy and incurably optimisticEvening Standard

His gift of story-telling is obviously innate.Rarely does one come on so satisfyingan amalgam of plot, characterisation and good writingPunch

Author Bio

Victor Canningwas a prolific writer throughout his career, which began young: he had sold several short stories by the age of nineteen and his first novel,Mr Finchley Discovers His England(1934) was published when he was twenty-three. It proved to be a runaway bestseller. Canning also wrote for children: his trilogyThe Runawayswas adapted for US children's television. Canning's later thrillers were darker and more complex than his earlier work and received further critical acclaim.