"When Grandmama fell off the boat, And couldn't swim (and wouldn't
float), Matilda just stood by and smiled. I almost could have slapped
the child."
When Grandmama Fell off the Boat is an anthology of the humorous verse
of Harry Graham, one of the early 20th century's wittiest writers.
Graham made his name as the author of Ruthless Rhymes for Heartless
Homes, published in 1898 under the pseudonym Col. D. Streamer (he was a
Coldstream Guard). He went on to become a successful writer of
stage-show lyrics, and in 1923 had five smash-hit musicals running
simultaneously in the West End of London. His work was published not
only in England but also in America, where he was credited with
introducing "sick" verse. The Times in its 1936 obituary compared him
with Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, and W. S. Gilbert, an epitaph that has
stood the test of time. Graham's secret is his ability to relate common
episodes with a sardonic twist. A father irritated by his crying infant
finds peace and quiet by popping him in the Frigidaire and a man whose
wife elopes with the chauffeur despairs of ever starting the car. His
callous and quotable rhymes became the table talk of a generation,
influencing emerging writers such as W. H. Auden, George Orwell, and
Agatha Christie. Although the ever popular Ruthless Rhymes was
republished in 1996, When Grandmama Fell Off The Boat remains the only
comprehensive selection of Graham's verse, compiled with the help of his
daughter, Virginia. It contains Graham's best work: his sharpest satire,
his most readily remembered lines, and his humor at its darkest. This
authorized anthology is elegantly designed, and the text is complemented
by delightful and amusing period illustrations by Fish, Fougasse, and
Ridgewell.
