Hands up who hasn't read "Three Men in a Boat"? (not you, Des; we all know you only read what's on the back of a COKE bottle!) But what about "2-1/2 Men in a Boat" which Nigel Williams wrote to earn £28,000 to pay a tax bill?
He took his larky trip up the Thames a whole hundred after Jerome K Jerome's famous journey in 1889, with no more serious purpose than to show his admiration for Jerome K Jerome - and to earn £28,000 to settle his tax which he did, but, of course, he had to pay tax on that as well.
His crew consists of JP, an efficient globe-trotting reporter; Alan, BBC supremo, the half man of the title, who drops in occassionally by limo; and Badger, an aristocrat among lurchers, who seems to be the only one in emotional control. Throw the mobile phone overboard and let your life's video include its quota of messing about in a boat on a river.
I was so taken by the introduction to the book that I tried to buy it on ebay but the only one I could find was in the USA. The price of US$8.95 was all right but the kicker was the US$33.90 in postage - click here.
Instead of buying it, I shall persevere reading it online at archive.org.
