Monday 18 April 2011

The Man With The Dancing Eyes

I picked up this book on eBay fairly recently after having enjoyed Sophie Dahl's cookbook 'Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights' and watched the follow up cooking programme on BBC Two this time last year, at £2.69 with free postage I thought I'd give it a whirl . . . .


It's an ex library copy and has that lovely plastic wrapper keeping the cover pristine, I'm fascinated by library stamps and have been wondering ever since it arrived how many people borrowed this book from  the library it used to live in.


The art work on the inside covers is stunning; birds of all shapes, sizes and colours.


As an illustrated novella it was a very quick read at 20 minutes but I absolutely loved every whimsical moment of it, idealised and slightly far fetched but a sweet, modern fairytale and worth picking up if you like a little whimsy and come across it on your thrifty travels. 


This is possibly my favourite image, Pierre the heroine who looks like she's attempting to direct traffic with flashing neon hearts. 


Though the best line in the book in my opinion is about the owner of a rare book shop called Mr Beany who drinks a pint of Guinness and a teacup of Jameson's for lunch every day.  Who wouldn't want to sip their booze from a teacup?

Suitably airy post for a Monday, hope you all had a lovely weekend!
Jem xXx

Linking to Flea Market Finds and Me and My Shadow 

20 comments :

  1. love the bird illustrations x

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  2. I have this book and adore it! Mine was an eBay one as well! Its a signed 1st edition copy and I got it for 11 quid which I thought was a bargin! dont you just love that the houseboat is called glimmety-glammety? magic. I wish there were more little books like this - flights of fancy that dont take themselves very seriously!x

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  3. This book looks awesome! Certainly on for drinking booze from a tea cup - reminds me of a story i hear of a 1940's mother who used to have a sneaky drink from a tea cup! Scarlett x

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  4. I used to love looking at how many stamps were in library books but I don't think they do that any more :-( all computerised now xxx

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  5. i absolutely love the illustrations in it, the cover looks so cute, the birds are adorable, im in love with the heroine with those neon hearts! and in another pic , it looks like a tea/booze party hehehe now that is interesting drinking guinness from a teacup!! i too love the library stamp, it makes the book looks so vintage! :)

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  6. the illustrations in Sophies book are lovely.
    I loved your comment about your Aussie neighbour singing Waltzing Matilda as she hung her washing out...thanks Jem

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  7. Love the birds on the inside cover, so cute!

    Bee happy x
    Have a delicious day!

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  8. Found my copy in a charity shop a couple of years ago and was delighted.My favourite line is 'when funds were low they went to canal street and bought chinese slippers,paper butterflies,and yards of ribbons'xxx

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  9. Looks like a lovely book to thumb through on a sunny afternoon.

    Great bargain, thanks for linking up x

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  10. Think everyone would love this book and love your word "whimsy".
    My finds are over at http://gigglingatitall.blogspot.com

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  11. I love the illustrations in this book! What a find and talking of finds....I'm glad I stumbled across your lovely blog today! :) xx

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  12. how charming and cute! I'm always intrigued by who's borrowed books before- there's this studio ghibli film called 'whisper of the heart' that has a plot line about it hehe! I'm also intrigued when I see books I love in the uni library as to what module they're for (So i can sign up haha!)

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  13. lovely illustrations in it :)

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  14. Hey Jem, Just wizzed through your recent posts and you have found some really lovely treasures, that bureau is beautiful and all your lovely tea cups and trinkets, we really should go thrift shopping one day, although we'd probably end up fighting over the same things :) xxx

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  15. I used to enjoy looking at the library stamps as well. Seeing if a book languished on a shelf between reads or if it flew out as soon as it arrived back home. I have seen the author's name, but not sure if I own anything.
    Or am I just thinking of Roald Dahl?
    Are they related?

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  16. I read her semi-autobio of which the name escapes me now a few years ago. I found the TV show a bit too saccharine for my taste but she is simply divine to look at! Stunning beautiful.

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  17. The illustrations (esp on the front) remind me of rather of Edward Lear. Has she inherited her Grandfather's literary skill then? Am a big Roald Dahl fan as is my eldest!

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  18. You mean you don't drink your booze from a teacup ? Howe very bizzare : ) Wonderful book, I will go search it out xx

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  19. What a quirky little book! I love those illustrations! Those birds look so cute and I am smiling at the thought of Mr Tiff drinking his Guinness from a tea cup! X

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  20. I loved the Sophie Dahl cookery series and just melted into her surroundings and yummy recipes. The book looks lovely and how lucky to find it, I may have a search for it at my library. x

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