The Diary of a Nobody

George and Weedon Grossmith's seminal classic The Diary of a Nobody is as pertinent today as it was when written in the 1880s in Victorian London. Like many great Victorian works, such as Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes adventures, and Dickens' Mr Pickwick, The Diary of a Nobody was published in magazine serial form, and in its case, the fledgeling Punch periodical.

This is an understated journey into the life of Charles Pooter, a middle-aged accounts clerk in the city who rents a substantial town house in the less-than-trendy Holloway area. He possesses an overarching ambition for social advancement but this ambition is thwarted by his unconscious gaffes and self-importance.

Pooter's son, Lupin, provides the energy of the book, and remarkably, we discover that the father / son dynamic has not changed over the last 130 years – fathers are still exasperated by their sons' usage of indecipherable street argot, hot-headedness and sheer lack of desire to settle down.

This book is neither florid nor verbose – in fact it is so lightweight it can be read cover to cover in one sitting. The Grossmith's have captured the essence and minutiae of family life, and have distilled this into a short yet humourous and beguiling book that will not fail to raise a smile or too whilst giving some insight into the travails one had to endure in Victorian London.