Parnassus on Wheels

by Christopher Morley

Book Overview

Parnassus on Wheels is Morley's first novel, about a fictional traveling book-selling business. The original owner of the business, Roger Mifflin, sells it to 39-year-old Helen McGill, who is tired of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0397000650
• ISBN13: 9780397000654
• Release Date: June 1955
• Publisher: J.P. Lippincott
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Short, but sweet

Christopher Morley's 'Parnassus on Wheels' attracted my attention alongside its sequel, The Haunted Bookshop, in a used book store in upstate New York on a book-buying vacation I took last year. The title 'Haunted Bookshop' is sure to attract most bibliophiles, and to read the dustflap and see that it was a sequel to Parnassus, with Parnassus sitting right there next to it, was too much a temptation to pass up, at least for me. When the traveling bookshop 'Parnassus' rolls up to Sabine Farm, spinster Helen McGill finds herself attracted not only to the books inside, but to the life of Parsassus's proprietor, Roger Mifflin, as he recounts his travels to and fro, here and there, bringing great literature and joy into the lives of his customers. At once charmed and intrigued by the man and his profession, Helen resolves to purchase the Parnassus, upon offer of sale, from Roger Mifflin, who in reality came to discuss the possibility of sale to Helen's brother Andrew, a locally famous chronicler of the virutes of a simple, farming life. Once the sale is complete, Helen and Mifflin depart Sabine Farm to begin Helen's life on the road selling books, with a furious Andrew not far behind, determined to bring to justice this man who has swindled his sister. Though a very quick read at a mere 160 pages, this delightful novella has all the charm, wit, and literary name dropping that a reader could want. This book took me, literally, an hour and a half to read, but will remain with me for some time, and is one I will definitely recommend to other lovers of such stories. Highly recommended.

A bygone era?

A friend of mine, recently in the throes of moving and having to box and cart hundreds of books, declared in exasperation that she regretted ever buying a single one of them. I jokingly told her that as penance for her biblioblasphemy, she had to read Morley's Parnassus on Wheels. This in turn led me to reread the book, and I was just as delighted by it as I was when I read it as a teenager over 40 years ago. Anyone who loves books and the countryside will love Parnassus on Wheels. It's an Adam of the Road sort of story: Roger Mifflin, a traveling bookseller, roams the farmlands and backwoods of the nation spreading the gospel of books. His faith in the power of the word is boundless. People need books, he insists, even if they don't know they need them, and his mission is to deepen the spirit and broaden the imagination of the folks he encounters by matching them up with just the book they need. Along the way he meets Helen McGill, a good-hearted spinster, and they share adventures while falling in love with one another. The plot sounds simple, and it is. But the story is written with easy grace and the characters are attractive. But what makes the story so appealing for the bibliophiles for whom Morley wrote it is the intense love of books and reading that permeates every chapter. Reading Roger Mifflin wax lyrical about specific books makes us hunger to read those books ourselves. I remember that when I first read Parnassus as a youngster, I jotted down a reading list culled from the book. Roger gave me good advice. Some of the authors he mentioned have sustained me ever since. But is Roger's love of books as antiquated--and perhaps quaint--as the horse-drawn wagon from which he sells his treasures? Has the media age's focus on images and the publishing conglomerates concern for profits over quality made book-loving a relic of the past? I don't know. But if so, I'm happy to be a dinosaur.

A Truly Enjoyable Book - Deserves Great Praise

Christopher Morley on Christopher Morley: "His early writing, which was (though not intentionally) imitative and immature, was received with absurd overpraise." Morley's self evaluation was overly critical. Now, nearly 90 years later, Morley's early works, especially Parnassus on Wheels (1917) and its sequel, The Haunted Bookshop (1919), are still widely praised. Roger Mifflin, the exuberant, irrepressible, itinerant book seller, is one of the most beloved characters of twentieth century fiction. But the central character in Parnassus on Wheels is really Helen McGill, the pragmatic and hardworking sister of the much admired writer, Andrew McGill. Having baked some 6,000 loaves of bread for her brother in the last fifteen years, Helen was primed for change. When Roger Mifflin placed his horse-drawn library, Parnassus, for sale at $400, Helen, age 39, withdrew her savings and began the adventure of her life. As a neighbor exclaimed, "Think of Parnassus turned suffrage!" Parnassus on Wheels, like its marvelous sequel, The Haunted Bookshop, is a delightful mix of engaging characters, lively plot, and thought provoking, common sense philosophy. Christopher Morley, later founder and editor of the Saturday Review, cleverly employed his remarkable traveling bookseller to expound on Morley's own deep commitment to good literature. Here is one of Roger Mifflin's most quoted statements: "Lord!" he said, "when you sell a man a book you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life." Whatever you do, don't stop with Parnassus on Wheels. Immediately find a copy of its splendid sequel, The Haunted Bookshop. Cheers.

For booklovers and romantics

Do you love books and learning? Do you delight in spending the afternoon browsing the stacks at the library? Are you in the mood for something light, amusing, captivating, and utterly delightful? Do you believe in true love, somehow, someway? If you said yes to most of these questions, then read Parnassus on Wheels. This is the most delightful and charming book I've come across in years. It brought tears to my eyes and made me laugh, and that doesn't happen often when I'm reading a book. In fact, I wish I had my own Parnassus and that I could travel the countryside selling books.By the way, it's a page turner too! A great gift idea for a friend that loves to read. Enjoy.

Simply wonderful!

This is one of my favorite novels; I re-read it every spring. It's a wonderful, hilarious "on the road" novel with a heartwarming romance thrown in for good measure. If your favorite period is America in the early 1900s, you'll love this novel!