Forever Rumpole: The Best of the Rumpole Stories - Softcover

Mortimer, John; Mallalieu, Ann

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143122142 ISBN 13: 9780143122142

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2012

Synopsis

John Mortimer--novelist, playwright, memoirist, and the author of more than eighty Rumpole short stories--will never be forgotten. While still a practicing barrister, Mortimer took up the pen, and the rest is literary history. His stories featuring the cigar-chomping, cheap-wine-tippling Rumpole and his wife, Hilda (aka "She Who Must Be Obeyed"), have justly earned their place in the pantheon of mystery fiction legends, becoming the basis for the very successful television series Rumpole of the Bailey. Bringing fourteen of Rumpole's most entertaining adventures (seven of which were collected in The Best of Rumpole) together with a fragment of a new story, Forever Rumpole proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Rumpole is never less than delightful.

About this title

Review:

"A volume sure to be treasured by both old fans and new." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Horace Rumpole, the claret-quaffing barrister who never quite makes the grade but always makes a point, stars in a new collection of his most outrageous exploits . . . Rumpole's courtroom antics and politically incorrect gaffes have made him a perennial favorite among mystery fans for decades . . . those uninitiated to the irascible barrister's charm and wit will have much to relish. The collection is an excellent primer to all things Rumpole." -- Library Journal

"Once detective-fiction heroes enter your mental landscape, they can seem as real as your own friends and family. For a lot of people, Horace Rumpole is just such a vivid and familiar figure . . . Rumpole fans can savor a bailiff's dozen of Rumpole's seriocomic adventures in Forever Rumpole." -- The Wall Street Journal

"Fourteen of the best of Rumpole's cases have been gathered for this compilation . . . the disheveled lawyer fielded cases ranging from petty larceny to Islamic terrorism, all with his characteristic tilting at windmills and his biting tongue-in-cheek wit." -- Bookpage (December Top Pick in Mystery)

"John Mortimer's stories combine a Wodehousian wit with a generous humanism of which the world could use another dollop...it is always a pure pleasure to sit down the the Old Bailey hack." -- Christian Science Monitor

"Horace Rumpole. A character Dickens would have been proud to have created . . . Mortimer's character came as a revelation to those of us who despaired of ever encountering a lawyer we could love. Who knew courtroom drama could be this much fun? The stories are intelligent, witty, and finely crafted . . . So long as there is sympathy for the sinful and muddled mankind, a delight in humor, an interest in justice, and any love of freedom, Horace Rumpole will indeed be forever." -- American Spectator

"Delightful . . . [Rumpole's] distinctive voice - crusty, orotund, pointed - is key to what makes these tales such a pleasure to read. . . . This excellent sampling will encourage most readers to go on and read more of the many still available." -- The Washington Times

From the Back Cover:

'I thank heaven for small mercies. The first of these is Rumpole' Clive James, Observer

'Rumpole is worthy to join the great gallery of English oddballs ranging from Pickwick to Sherlock Holmes, Jeeves and Bertie Wooster' Sunday Times

'Rumpole, like Jeeves and Sherlock Holmes, is immortal' P. D James, Mail on Sunday

'Mortimer has created one of the legendary fictional detectives ... a barrister [who's] as much a detective as Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot' Boston Globe

'Mortimer's divine hero is one of the few fictional immortals of our time' The Times

'In the fluidy and panache of his prose, his combination of high intelligence and low foolery, John Mortimer is worthy of comparison to P. G. Wodehouse' New York Times Book Review

'A fine comic creation. A figure who represents something important: the defence of liberty against the arrogance of power' Scotsman

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0143122142
• ISBN 13: 9780143122142
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 528