Mr. Bliss - Hardcover

Tolkien, J. R. R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395329361 ISBN 13: 9780395329368

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1983

Synopsis

Mr. Bliss's first outing in his new motor-car, shared with several friends, bears, dogs, and a donkey, though not the Girabbit, proves to be unconventional though not inexpensive.

About this title

Review:

‘Owes a little to Beatrix Potter in its ironical humour and to Edward Lear in the style of its drawings, though Tolkien’s approach is less grotesque and more delicate than Lear’s.’ Humphrey Carpenter

‘A celebration, in the spirit of The Wind in the Willows, of a vanished, vulgar England where everybody did – and spoke – exactly as he pleased, and life was consequently a series of amiable abrupt collisions, feebly refereed by the police in the shape of Sergeant Boffin. Although the book ought to feel dated, ... dating has done little harm to Tom Kitten or Mr Badger, and there seems no reason why it should here.’ T.A. Shippey, TLS

From the Back Cover:

Professor J.R.R. Tolkien invented and illustrated this book of Mr. Bliss’ adventures for his own children when they were young. The story is reproduced here exactly as he created it – hand-written with lots of detailed and uproarious coloured pictures.

It is a complete and highly imaginative tale of eccentricity. Mr. Bliss, a man notable for his immensely tall hats and for the girabbit in his garden, takes the whimsical decision to buy a motor car. But his first drive to visit friends quickly becomes a catalogue of disasters. Some of these could be blamed on Mr. Bliss’ style of driving, but even he could not anticipate being hi-jacked by three bears.

What happened next the reader, whether young or old, will want to discover for himself. Thankfully all ended well, and even the yellow motor car with red wheels (to which Mr. Bliss had taken an understandable and great dislike) came in useful at the end.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1983
• ISBN 10: 0395329361
• ISBN 13: 9780395329368
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 107