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Parnassus on Wheels

by Christopher Morley

4.08 · rating details · 410 ratings · 118 reviews

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally importan...more

Paperback, 200 pages

Published October 15th 2008 by BiblioLife (first published 1917)

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Apr 13, 2011

Abigail rated it

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Recommends it for: Booksellers, Librarians, Bibliophiles...

Shelves: fiction

Originally published in 1917, Christopher Morley's Parnassus on Wheels recounts the story of spinster Helen McGill, who, having grown tired of looking after her celebrity-author brother, decides that it is time to embark upon an adventure of her own. Overweight, "severely practical by nature," and somewhat distrustful of readers, Helen seems as first glance to be an odd choice to become an itinerant bookseller. But when the charming and eccentric Roger Mifflin shows up at her farmhouse...more

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Sep 06, 2011

Bev Hankins rated it

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Shelves: fiction

Actually finished this one late last night, so it counts for the last of my Classic Bribe Challenge Reads. Parnassus on Wheels (1917) is the first novel by Christopher Morley. It tells the story of Helen McGill who is getting tired of taking care of her older brother Andrew who has recently become a famous "homespun" author and who is spending less and less time doing the farm chores that are supposed to be his end of the bargain. One day Roger Mifflin, owner of the Parnassus on Wheels...more

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Jul 21, 2011

Marie rated it

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Parnassus on Wheels is a charming little story.

As a teenager, I fell in love with a beautiful old leather-bound copy of David Grayson's Adventures in Contentment, I think as much for the beautiful gold moon on its leather cover as for the gentle story inside, which told of a young man in the early 1900s becoming ill and leaving the rat race to enjoy the simple life of a farmer, along with his sister, Harriet. It had a utopian sort of simple poetry about it, though as I recall, Harrie...more

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Apr 21, 2010

Kate added it · review of another edition

The year is 1915. Our heroine is Helen McGill, a thirty-nine year old spinster who assists her brother Andrew in the running of his New England farm. Andrew is a literary man, however, and since his books have become successful, his attention to the farm and his appreciation of the work that Helen does have diminished considerably. Helen takes pride in her domestic accomplishments but she doesn't like being saddled with all the work and she doesn't like being taken for granted. Enter our unlikel...moreThe year is 1915. Our heroine is Helen McGill, a thirty-nine year old spinster who assists her brother Andrew in the running of his New England farm. Andrew is a literary man, however, and since his books have become successful, his attention to the farm and his appreciation of the work that Helen does have diminished considerably. Helen takes pride in her domestic accomplishments but she doesn't like being saddled with all the work and she doesn't like being taken for granted. Enter our unlikely hero. Roger Mifflin rolls into the farmyard in the "Parnassus on Wheels" of the title: a travelling bookshop. He's been travelling around the countryside evangelizing about literature but he's ready to pack it in to write a book of his own. He's seeking a buyer for the Parnassus and he thought that Andrew would be a likely candidate. In an uncharacteristically impulsive moment, Helen makes the purchase herself. She rationalizes that she’s simply trying to prevent Andrew from doing the same and disappearing from the farm once and for all. But it soon becomes apparent that the seemingly settled Helen is out for a bit of adventure. In the travelling book trade, she finds it.

Just to give you a bit of the flavour of the book, here’s Roger Mifflin on the power of books:

"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. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night -- there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean."

And Helen on the sudden change in her life:

Since the morning of the day before my whole life had twisted out of its accustomed orbit. I had spent four hundred dollars of my savings; I had sold about thirteen dollars' worth of books; I had precipitated a fight and met a philosopher. Not only that, I was dimly beginning to evolve a new philosophy of my own.

Parnassus on Wheels serves up adventure and romance in witty fashion with a heartening message about the power of good books underlying it all.(less)

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Jan 02, 2010

Eric rated it

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Parnassus on Wheels, originally published in 1917, is a cheerful enough book, concerning Andrew and Helen McGill, a brother and sister who ditch the city and take up the farming life. Everything's copacetic until the day they inherit a relative's library, which promptly sends everything to Hell. Pretty soon Andrew is not only reading as he plows the fields, but starts writing books, eventually neglecting his "practical" work to crank out bestselling homespun homilies. Sort of Green Acr...more

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Apr 20, 2009

Christy rated it

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The first of Christopher Morley's two bookselling novels ("The Haunted Bookshop" is the second), this book breathed wind into my sails, a true, fable-ish bookseller's manifesto.

Helen McGill is an ordinary, middle-aged "housewife" for her brother Andrew, whose literary aspirations have interfered with the running of their New England farm. One day when Andrew is out, a "Parnussus" (like a tinker wagon I imagine) rolls up and out jumps a little red-haired...more

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Sep 27, 2011

Jessica rated it

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Read my full review here: http://virtualmargin.blogspot.com/2011/08/parnassus-on-wheels-41100.html

Not only is Christopher Morley's novella Parnassus on Wheels a book about books, it's a book about bookselling. A romantic comedy about bookselling! And there's a dog! Cuteness overload.

The story recounts the tale of a middle-aged woman, who, tired of taking care of her brother, the farm, and the house for so many years, decides to go on her own adventure. She buys a traveling ca...more

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Dec 02, 2011

Colleen rated it

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For lack of a more original description, this is a charming book--a pleasant diversion for an hour or two. Helen McGill, self-professed "fat old fool," thinks she is content tending farm with her brother, Andrew. That is, until Andrew becomes a famous author. Helen watches Andrew disappear on writing jags, traveling the country meeting his readers and neglecting their farm...and grows more and more resentful. So she is ripe for an adventure of her own when Roger Mifflin shows up in...more

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May 29, 2011

Sharyl rated it

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This is a quaint, sweet novella. The term Parnassas on Wheels describes a moble used book store--a veritable mountain of books run by a rather eccentric middle-aged little man named Roger Mifflin. Roger is all alone with Pegasus, his chubby white horse and Bock, his little terrier, until he decides to sell his venture to someone else so that he can relax and write his own book. Enter Helen McGill, the overworked and bored spinster sister of a successful author. Their first meeting is not friendl...more

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Dec 06, 2011

Chana rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: american, classics, young-adult, received-through-bookcrossing, better-romance, trippy-fiction, released-through-bookcrossing

This was written in 1917 and the east coast sure was different back then, all that countryside and farms, clean air, sparkling rivers, the smell of salt and sunshine. Sounds amazing doesn't it? The story is about a middle aged brother and sister living on and working a farm together. The brother starts writing and is soon a popular published author and his sister is left with the running of the farm, a lot of work as you can imagine. One day a man shows up at the farm while the brother is aw...more

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Oct 25, 2010

Gregory rated it

· review of another edition

I'll admit to being sort of torn on how many stars to give this story. At times I feel like I'm a little too liberal with how I fling 5 stars around at book reviews. In this case, the story wasn't anything so complex. It was just a short, simple adventure vaguely reminiscent of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer if Tom Sawyer had really, really loved books. And been a woman. But I had so much fun reading it that I couldn't put the story down. It was short, sweet, and didn't try to be anything other th...more

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Mar 27, 2009

Hunter rated it

· review of another edition

Christopher Morley! Oh, if there were only more writers like this man. What a legacy he left. I wish the stuff-shirts in the academy were more like this man. There would be more creative writers in the world and happier ones, no doubt.

If you love books, you will love this little tome. It's the story of a farmer who becomes a bookseller. He takes a wagon and loads it with books and travels the countryside, preaching the "gospel of good books!"

Parnassus on Wheels ...more

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Jul 24, 2009

Wanda rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Wanda by: Wendy discovered this one!

Shelves: 2009, fiction-and-literature, ebooks, favorites

The name "Parnassus" in literature typically refers to its distinction as the home of poetry, literature, and learning. "Parnassus" is also home to the winged horse, Pegasus.

She was looking for adventure. He was looking to sell his great Parnussus; his horse, Pegasus; and, the entire kit and kaboodle of his life. Together, they made the bargain of a lifetime and found the greatest adventure known to man - love and marriage.

I am on to the next bo...more

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Mar 06, 2011

Megan Murray rated it

· review of another edition

Oh man, I love books about books. How can such a little novella hold so much?

Parnassus on Wheels was an especially fun read since the entire book is basically one of my greatest dreams brought to life. (Or brought to the page rather. Same difference really.)

But yes, a man who runs a traveling bookshop shows up at a woman's farm (where she lives with her brother) with a cart of books and a dog and a horse. He quotes a bunch of poetry and novels. He sells her the store. And the...more

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Oct 20, 2009

Lilian rated it

· review of another edition

This is a delightful book, perfect for a holiday break. The illustrations by Douglas Gorsline are perfect.

First published in 1917, the book was well reviewed by the Boston Evening Transcript:

To read Parnassus on Wheels is to be glad there are books in the world. It is graceful in style, light in substance, merry in its attitude toward life, and entertaining in every aspect of its plot and insight into character.

Yes! This short novel, weighing in at only 16...moreThis is a delightful book, perfect for a holiday break. The illustrations by Douglas Gorsline are perfect.

First published in 1917, the book was well reviewed by the Boston Evening Transcript:

To read Parnassus on Wheels is to be glad there are books in the world. It is graceful in style, light in substance, merry in its attitude toward life, and entertaining in every aspect of its plot and insight into character.

Yes! This short novel, weighing in at only 160 pages, is written in the robust first person voice of Miss McGill, a 39 year old New England spinster who, having baked (by her calculations) 6,000 loaves of bread while looking after her author brother, decides to take off in a horse drawn book mobile. The previous owner, Roger Mifflin, a wiry, feisty, humane purveyor of literature to the countryside, intends to write a book of his own. His philosophy and their friendship is the heart of the book.

Having read it, and smiling while I post, I am heartened now about ebooks for two reasons. First of all, I had to wait for ages to get this book from the library, but if I already had an ereader (which I intend to get soon), I could have downloaded it here. And so ereaders combat the short shelf life of books that should outlast the shelves. Secondly, in thinking about Mifflin's (and presumably Morley's) thoughts on literature, I can see how ereaders and ebooks may bring literature to the far reaches of the globe.

I recently saw a news story about the one laptop per child program, and how much difference it has made in the children's and their families' lives. The representative from the program said that in his experience the best part of the program is that it breaks the isolation that these people suffer from. But it isn't only practical information that is available. So is literature.

To quote Roger Mifflin:

What I say is, who has ever gone out into high roads and hedges to bring literature home to the plain man? To bring it home to his business and bosom, as somebody says? The farther into the country you go, the fewer and worse books you find...[Y]ou've got to go out and visit the people yourself--take the books to them...and then little by little you begin to get good books circulating in the veins of the nation. (p 75)

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Jul 03, 2008

Michelle rated it

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Shelves: novels

Well, I just had WAY too much fun with this hilarious and off-the-wall romance. How fun! But I knew I was going to love any book that started out like this:

"I wonder if there isn't a lot of bunkum in higher education? I never found that people who were learned in logarithms and other kinds of poetry were any quicker in washing dishes or darning socks. I've done a good deal of reading when I could, and I don't want to 'admit impediments' to the love of books, but I've also se...more

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Oct 02, 2007

LJ rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: novel, new_england, gaslight_edwardian_1901-1914, male_author

PARNASSUS ON WHEELS (Novel, New England, Gaslight) – Ex
Morley, Christopher – Standalone
Wildside Press, Orig. published 1917, US Hardcover – ISBN: 1587155923
First Sentence: I wonder if there isn’t a lot of bunkum in higher education?
*** Helen McGill has been keeping house for her brother, a successful author and less successful farmer. Roger Mifflin shows up with a horse-drawn caravan, or Parnassus, which he has converted into a traveling bookstore. Helen, who has neve...more

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Jun 22, 2011

Sonia rated it

· review of another edition

Apparently my summer reading pattern is one that neglects all the books that have collected on the shelves at home in favor of spontaneous finds at the Woodstock Library. I am not at all surprised to see this one on the shelves of some Maud friends, though! A really wonderful story, highly recommended. There is a great eulogy of Brooklyn.

One unfortunate typo in this Melville Novella edition is "pubic" for "public" on p. 116. But I will be reading more of this series...more

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May 23, 2010

Tanya Faberson rated it

· review of another edition

I really liked this book. It's the prequel to The Haunted Bookshop, which I loved. I have to say, though, that I'm glad I read Haunted Bookshop first, because while I liked this book, I'm not sure I would be running to the bookstore to get Haunted Bookshop right away (it's hard to explain... this one isn't a mystery, so I would have questioned perhaps how Morley would have pulled off a mystery, not having read him before). I did really like this one, though, and it was nice to read about how Hel...more

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Jul 20, 2011

JoAnn rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, humor

A friend recommended The Haunted Bookstore and mentioned it had a prequel she hadn't read: Pernassus on Wheels. I checked Project Gutenberg and was pleased to see both were available. Pernassus om Wheels was worth reading. It was engaging and it's light humor still has me smiling. "By George Eliot's bones," I'm looking forward to The Haunted Bookstore.
I'll have to admit, I was impressed with the railroad terminology, too: block signal, siding, etc.

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May 31, 2010

Tim rated it

· review of another edition

From 1917 - The gentle story of a farm woman, serving her brother's growing literary career and longing for a change. She buys a mobile book wagon (the intricate description of which captured my attention and desire) and begins to travel, selling books with the wagon's charismatic previous owner (a true book evangelist). They do not travel far, love ensues, and the necessity of books is everywhere praised. A very simple and imaginative diversion.

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Aug 03, 2011

Kataklicik rated it

· review of another edition

Having read The Haunted Bookshop first, I was looking forward to this book. Alas, inasmuch as I enjoyed Helen Mifflin nee McGill's story, Roger Mifflin's insights in The Haunted Bookshop left a much more lasting impression on me. Parnassus on Wheels is still a good book, worth the read.

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Jul 12, 2011

Ron Beffa rated it

· review of another edition

I had heard good things about this book and grabbed a copy from the library. At the beginning of the short novel I wondered what I had gotten into but I soon fell under the spell of it's charm. I suppose any booklover would almost have to at least like this book. It is a sweet and slightly corny tale that I am really glad I read. The story is nearly 100 years old, and timeless.

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Sep 12, 2010

Barbara rated it

· review of another edition

First off, this book was written in 1917 so it's definitely not a modern book full of fast action, psychological thrills, torrid romance.
It is a simple but fun story. Helen is an old maid, and a somewhat unattractive old maid. Roger is a bachelor, living an interesting but somewhat lonely life selling books from a mobile horse and wagon--"Parnassus"! And they find each other! And I like it. It's happy and sweet and has some adventure! I'd read other Christopher Morley books...more

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Jun 04, 2009

Christiana rated it

· review of another edition

This recommendation from my friend Steve turns out to be a funny little gem, written in 1917: a story of mid-life romance and the love of books! It's unlikely to take more than an hour to read. One aspect of it annoyed me very much (the way the female narrator gets treated by men) but I suppose that's representative of the time and Christopher Morley can't be blamed for it.

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Mar 18, 2009

Judy rated it

· review of another edition

I picked up this book in a used book shop while on vacation recently. First published in 1917, this wonderful book is a hymn to the importance of books and reading in our lives. It features a Parnassus--a wagon filled with books, a horse, Peg, to pull it, and two middle-aged strangers who fall in love while talking about books. A easy, comfortable read.

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Dec 06, 2008

Elizabeth rated it

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Shelves: 2008, books-about-books, in-by-of-the-americas, reviewed, the-knights-who-say-meh

What a strange little book. I wanted to be charmed by this story of a traveling-book-salesman who sells his caravan to the sister (and house keeper) of an author/farmer. She promptly abandons the house (excellent), takes off with the salesman (also excellent) and gets chased by her clueless brother (amusing). But this book is dated, which is a strange thing for me to say. I read mostly "dated" books and they don't bother me. I've always considered it in favor of the book, not a problem...more

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May 15, 2010

Mommalibrarian rated it

· review of another edition

What a surprising little book. A book peddler with a horse drawn 'caravan' living area and book displays drives up to the rural New England farm of the author of Paradise Regained, an elegy to country life, and his unmarried sister. An adventure ensues.
Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext04/pr...

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Jul 14, 2011

Rachel Kopel rated it

· review of another edition

Oh such a sweet story of a couple meeting in middle age and roaming the countryside in a perfect traveling book shop and home pulled by a horse. I wanted to move right in, travel with them, travel with my own sweetheart in such a magical vehicle, and always surrounded by the joy of books.

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Apr 29, 2010

Jane rated it

· review of another edition

“When you sell a man a book,” says Roger Mifflin, protagonist of these classic bookselling novels, “you don’t sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue — you sell him a whole new life.”
A charming heart warming story published in 1919 and an author I have never read.
Enjoyed it very much!
I now want to read his book The Haunted Bookshop.

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About Christopher Morley

Christopher Morley was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania while his father was a mathematics professor at Haverford College. Morley graduated from this same school in 1910 as valedictorian. He then went to New College, Oxford University for three years on a Rhodes Scholarship, studying modern history. Arriving home, he headed out to Garden City to begin his life of letters at Doubleday, where he work...moreChristopher Morley was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania while his father was a mathematics professor at Haverford College. Morley graduated from this same school in 1910 as valedictorian. He then went to New College, Oxford University for three years on a Rhodes Scholarship, studying modern history. Arriving home, he headed out to Garden City to begin his life of letters at Doubleday, where he worked as a publicist and publisher's reader. About this time he married Helen Fairchild, and they lived first in Hempstead, and then in Queens Village. Morley moved to Philadelphia where he got his start as a newspaper reporter and then columnist for various publications. In 1920, he returned to New York City and took a job writing the column The Bowling Green for the New York Evening Post. [1]

He was one of the founders and long-time contributing editor of the Saturday Review of Literature. A highly gregarious man, he was the mainstay of what he dubbed the "Three Hours for Lunch Club". Out of enthusiasm for the Sherlock Holmes stories, he became the founder of the Baker Street Irregulars and wrote the introduction to the standard omnibus edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. In 1936 he was appointed to revise and enlarge Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1937, 1948). He was one of the first judges for the Book-of-the Month Club, serving in that position until the early 1950s.

Author of more than 100 books of essays, poetry, and novels, Morley is probably best known as the author of Kitty Foyle (1939), which was made into an Academy Award-winning movie. Other well known works include Thunder on the Left (1925), and The Haunted Bookshop (1919) and Parnassus on Wheels (1917), his two novels of a fictional bookseller.

For most of his life, he lived in Roslyn Heights, Nassau County, Long Island, commuting to the city on the Long Island Rail Road, about which he wrote affectionately. In 1961, a 98-acre park was named in his honor in Nassau County. This park preserves his studio, the "Knothole", as a point of interest, his furniture and bookcases available to the historically-interested public.
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