Welcome to Part Two of Three Men on the Bummel, our springtime audio adventure in Tales for Our Time. I thank you for all your kind words about this choice for our seventieth monthly yarn. John Wilson, a First Week Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, writes:
Thank you, Mark! This really is a treat for our 8th year together.
In tonight's episode of Jerome K Jerome's whimsical sequel to his best-loved book, our hero puts into operation his cunning scheme to bunk off with the chaps to the Continent for a month:
I opened the ball with Ethelbertha that same evening. I commenced by being purposely a little irritable. My idea was that Ethelbertha would remark upon this. I should admit it, and account for it by over brain pressure. This would naturally lead to talk about my health in general, and the evident necessity there was for my taking prompt and vigorous measures. I thought that with a little tact I might even manage so that the suggestion should come from Ethelbertha herself. I imagined her saying: "No, dear, it is change you want; complete change. Now be persuaded by me, and go away for a month. No, do not ask me to come with you. I know you would rather that I did, but I will not. It is the society of other men you need. Try and persuade George and Harris to go with you. Believe me, a highly strung brain such as yours demands occasional relaxation from the strain of domestic surroundings..."
To hear me read the second episode of Three Men on the Bummel, please click here and log-in. If you missed part one, you'll find that here. If you've yet to hear my serialisation of Three Men in a Boat, that can be found here.
Tales for Our Time started as an experimental feature we introduced as a bonus for Mark Steyn Club members, and, as you know, I said if it was a total stinkeroo, we'd eighty-six the thing and speak no more of it. But I'm thrilled to say it's proved very popular, and and we now have quite an archive. If you're a Club member and you incline more to the stinkeroo side of things, give it your best in the Comments Section below.
We launched The Mark Steyn Club nearly eight years ago, and I'm truly grateful to all those members across the globe who've signed up to be a part of it - from Fargo to Fiji, Vancouver to Vanuatu, Cook County to the Cook Islands, West Virginia to the West Midlands. If you've enjoyed our monthly Steyn Club audio adventures and you're looking for a present for a fellow fan of classic fiction, I hope you'll consider our special Club Gift Membership. That said, aside from Tales for Our Time, The Mark Steyn Club does come with other benefits:
~Exclusive Steyn Store member pricing on over 40 books, mugs, T-shirts, and other products;
~The opportunity to engage in live Clubland Q&A sessions with yours truly, such as this Wednesday's;
~Transcript and audio versions of The Mark Steyn Show, SteynPosts, and our other video content;
~My video series of classic poetry;
~Priority booking for the next Mark Steyn Club Cruise: we'll be sailing aboard the Queen Mary 2 from Quebec City to New York via the beautiful Saguenay Fjord;
~Advance booking for my live appearances around the world, assuming I'm ever again healthy enough to make any;
~Customized email alerts for new content in your areas of interest;
~and the opportunity to support our print, audio and video ventures as they wing their way around the planet.
To become a member of The Mark Steyn Club, please click here - and don't forget that special Gift Membership. As soon as you join, you'll get access not only to Three Men on the Bummel but to all our other audio adventures.
One other benefit to membership is our Comment Club privileges. So, whether you like my reading of this seventieth Tale for Our Time or are minded to toss it overboard, then feel free to comment away below. And do join us tomorrow for Part Three of Three Men on the Bummel.
