THREE CHEERS FOR NOTHING

by Peter Kinsley ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

onathan Cheers, out of a job and on the town at twenty-six, has taken up residence in the model whale at the Kensington Natural History Museum. His London is inhabited by a variety of characters--from nobility and debutantes to con men and ""working"" riminals. In his repulsion to work and attraction to money, he turns to the latter for a couple of bright capers. First he is party to trying to sell an African prince a seat on the Board of a girl's school, to satisfy his client's lewd tastes and line his partners' pockets. His performance on the job is noted by the Countess, a criminal genius, and he is cut in on the big job --stealing the Crown Jewels from the Tower, and selling them to an American for a cache of dirty fivers. The crime is a success, but the criminals are not; as in the Rene Desnais film, Any Number Can Win, the boodle is ironically scuttled when the model whale containing it is towed away for target practice and sinking. The reader is cheerfully regaled with the maneuvering of Mr. Cheers as he swims in a colorful, moral world, adeptly avoiding the shoals of duty and respectability while obtaining his needs and pleasures. A clever accounting by Mr. Kinsley in his first novel.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1964

Categories: FICTION