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Augustus Carp Esq. By Himself (Prion Humour Classics) Hardcover – October 1, 2000

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 93 ratings
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A Churchwarden, Sunday school superintendent, and President of the St Potamus Purity League, Augustus Carp is assiduous in exposing the sins and foibles of others while studiously ignoring his own. Although he campaigns against lechery, drinking, and smoking, he manages to indulge himself in plenty of other vices in the name of piety. The more seriously Carp takes himself, the more ridiculous he becomes. His frequent falls from dignity are uproarious—from his inability to climb off buses without falling over to his lifelong problems with flatulence. As a satire on hypocrisy, there is nothing quite like it in English prose.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    231 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Prion
  4. Publication date
    October 1, 2000
  5. Dimensions
    5.1 x 0.96 x 7.1 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1853754110
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1853754111
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anglophiles and connoisseurs of dry humor would be well advised to acquaint themselves with the Prion Humour Classic Series. Its unmatchable lineup boasting editions of Benson's Mapp and Lucia and Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody has now been extended to include a reissue of Augustus Carp Esq. by Himself, by Sir Henry Howarth Bashford. This apocryphal autobiography of a painfully pious, self-satisfied English landowner is perhaps less accessible than other volumes in the series, but the droll inanities of its protagonist easily pass muster.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Bashford's comic 1924 volume offers the mock autobiography of Augustus Carp, a self-aggrandizing, stuffy, puritanical oaf, who indulges in numerous vices in the name of Christianity, rationalizing his own weaknesses while condemning others for the same acts. Great fun.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prion; New edition (October 1, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 231 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1853754110
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1853754111
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.96 x 7.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 93 ratings

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  1. Sir H. H. Bashford

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
93 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

whiterabbit
5.0 out of 5 stars caution... this book ellicits laughter, even in public
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2003
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I have never been guilty of laughing out loud when reading a book, until now. Augustus Carp is simply irresistible, and the more supercilious and flawed his character is shown to be (through his own writings!), the funnier it gets; though not unaccompanied by a certain nervous introspection... after all, who among us is without some self-deluded failings? So it is humor (humour) with an edge, as is characteristic of all the best British humor. Like a good martini, it is dry and leaves you stirred, and perhaps chuckling a little helplessly...
22 people found this helpful
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bahfafah
5.0 out of 5 stars A Lost Classic of British Humor Found
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2017
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A lost classic of British humor. If you like "Three Men in a Boat" or "The Diary of A Nobody" you'll love Augustus Carp. Admittedly an acquired taste, but fans of P.G. Wodehouse rejoice, such people really do exist!
3 people found this helpful
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John J Rogan
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2018
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Great Englsih humor, a fun read from the past.
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Lee Meagher
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2016
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Sublimely funny. Incomparable. One of the books I would like to be buried with.
One person found this helpful
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English teacher
5.0 out of 5 stars classic
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2014
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One of the funniest books of all time.
3 people found this helpful
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AZ Scholar
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2009
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A rare and extremely humorous (dry humor) account of a sanctimonious "good man" that will leave the reader chuckling but wary of emulating Mr. Carp.
3 people found this helpful
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sally tarbox
5.0 out of 5 stars "Oh, sin", I cried, "sin - unbelievable sin in Greenwich Park",
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2015
One of the world's funniest books, narrated by the priggish, self-satisfied, unattractive Augustus - acutely aware of others' failings, but ever on the alert to use them to his own advantage.
Bashford's writing is superb, the language conveying such a vivid impression of the pompous character. Thus when his (equally pompous) father gets into an argument with their charwoman after dealing her son a blow ("dividing the integument of his forehead"), Augustus describes the woman's actions:
"I beheld Mrs O'Flaherty thrusting my father's head into her pail. It was a commodious pail, very nearly full with incompletely clean water, and containing in addition the saturate garment with which it was her habit to wash the linoleum."
Augustus proves singularly unpopular at school, both with the boys he reports and with the masters through his demeanour:
"When our form-master, a Mr Muglington, asked me if I knew the capital of Belgium, I replied that while I had not as yet enjoyed the opportunity of paying the town a personal visit, I had been credibly informed that it was known as Brussels, so indissolubly associated with the well-known brassica."
And meanwhile his proud, sternly Anglican father is - after a series of disagreements - transferring his worship from the Church of James the Less to that of James- the-Lesser-Still and ultimately James-the-Least-of-all. Mother is a poor cowed creature, her life spent serving her husband and son:
"After every such exhibition of pristine vigour, however, my father experienced an acute reaction, and for many weeks would become a martyr not only to neurasthenic indigestion but to digestive neurasthenia accompanied by flatulence of the severest order. For months on end, indeed, my mother would be obliged to sit by his bedside in case he should wake up and require abdominal kneading."
The author was Hon Physician to King George VI, and entertaining ailments pepper the work, from his friend Simeon Whey's stutter ("kck") to Charity and Understanding, but for whose "slight impediments in their noses the whole house would have been wrapped in the profoundest stillness."
In short, a hilarious book - much funnier than the better known "Diary of a Nobody" - and one I would recommend to all.
One person found this helpful
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bookwomen37
5.0 out of 5 stars The Autobiography of a Good Man
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2017
Happy to see this humorous gem back in print. Augustus, better than a tin recounts his wonderful life from his birth. He is a good man who enjoys highlighting everyone's weaknesses. Even though this was written in 1924 it still holds up today. This edition includes the original illustrations. Enjoy this rediscovered classic
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

John Sadler
5.0 out of 5 stars You don't have to be a UK citizen but it helps.
Reviewed in Canada on November 14, 2021
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This book was out of print until a chance encounter between two authors ( Anthony Burgess and someone else ) . One of them responded to the other's polite enquiry as to his health with ' In the prime of my Xtian metropolitan manhood ' - a quote from the book - which was instantly recognized and lead them to the discovery the book had been ' lost ' and to make the effort to get it back in print .
The hardcover reprint is better - the illustrations feel more authentic - but the paperback version is cheap and part of my life - and suggests the book has become , deservedly , part of the lexicon of English literature .
Occasionally , tiring of responding with banalities to ' How are you doing ? ' I will say ' In the prime etc . If you try this ( choose educated people ) the response will be befuddlement 90% and cries of joy 10% . For the 90% I send them a copy ; for the 10% I have gained an excellent conversation and a warm acquaintance .

The story is , gentle , eternally human , and holds your attention .
The author was a doctor ( if you are aware of it you may note some of the text supports that ) and a medical attendant on the Queen . He did not during his lifetime want his authorship publicly known .
I hope you read and enjoy it .
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Huck Flynn
5.0 out of 5 stars A Monstrously Funny Creation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 9, 2003
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Another comic masterpiece lovingly restored by Prion, Augustus Carp is a gloriously funny satire written in the first quarter of the last century. It is the fictional autobiography of a monstrously pious hypocrite with the ego of Alan Partridge, compassion of Ricky Gervais' David Brent and morals of Queen Victoria. A more self-satisfied, opinionated boor you will never meet in literature - even Dickens would have been proud of the character - and one is delighted and irritated in turns by his fluctuating career. As Carp ruthlessly walks over everyone on his rise from mediocrity to notoriety it is the reader's most fervent wish that he comes a cropper. Does he ? ... I won't spoil the story for you. Enjoy the comic grotesque characters along the way - the pompous role model his father, his subjugated female relatives, the feud with the Carkeek's and the church lectern, the hilarious Stool clan and his antics in the various puritanical crusades against dancing, theatricals and other forms of supposed debauchery. Once you've finished this, turn to The Eliza Stories (also available in Prion) for another wonderful comic hero in the shape of Eliza's husband, albeit one with redeeming features totally absent in Bashford's comic creation Carp.
15 people found this helpful
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Chris Hobbs
5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the Funniest Unknown Book
Reviewed in Canada on July 19, 2020
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I have known this wonderful book for many years, and bought several copies to give as presents to several of my colleagues as I retired from work. They have also found it very useful.

If you want to be a really good person, this is the handbook for you.
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Peter Large
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant and unjustly neglected book!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2012
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However this is a niche topic. Only suitable for adults who:
1. Are interested in religion and particularly the Church of England.
2. Are old enough to appreciate how things were when religious belief and social status went hand-in-hand among the bourgoisie.
3. Can appreciate satire and the mores of Victorian society.
4. Are not unduly enraged by male chauvinism.
For this elite group the book is hilarious, and merits comparison with The Diary of a Nobody.
6 people found this helpful
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J. Mincham
4.0 out of 5 stars Revelations of a snob!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2016
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People who enjoy books like The Diary of a Nobody will like this. There is something about awful people revealing themselves without realising that they are so doing, that appeals to the rest of us. Augustus Carp is a dreadful, vindictive, self satisfied snob but with no sense of self-realisation; in fact he believes himself to be pretty well perfect. Just the sort of limited idiot you might find revealing him/herself on the Kyle and Springer shows.
A good stocking filler, not too long and smugly amusing.
One person found this helpful
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