The Best of Glencannon: 22 Stories [Hardcover]

Guy Gilpatric (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (September 20, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0848817575
• ISBN-13: 978-0848817572
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,299,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and hysterically funny!, June 24, 2011

By 

B. Minor "The Grey Piper" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best of Glencannon: 22 Stories (Hardcover)

Some of the funniest stories I have ever read!!! Of course it helps that, like Mr Glencannon, I am a merchant seaman and play the bagpipes (although I am not *quite* as Scottish as he is!).

I first learned of these tremendous stories from my father (also a merchant mariner) and read some of them when I was a kid. Over the years I owned and read all three Omnibus books, but all three were lost or ruined. Now, I have them all back, all at once, all the Glencannon!!!! What a joy! I have this "Best of" book as well, and I have read it over and over for years!

Long before Lt Montgomery Scott took over the engines of the USS Enterprise, Colin Glencannon was in charge of the engines of the SS Inchecliffe Castle, a tramp steamer on an ongoing mission to carry cargoes from one end of the earth to the other, make a slim profit for her owners (Clifford & Castle Steamship, Ltd.), and keep Chief Engineer Glencannon, Captain John Ball, and First Officer Chauncey Montgomery in perpetual mischief. Glencannon has been called the first literary hero with absolutely NO redeeming qualities. He is a sneak, a crook, a liar, a smuggler, a lush, a cheat, a common barroom brawler, a miser ... well, the list is endless. His one real virtue is that he is a brilliant engineer, the only man alive who can keep the rusty coffee mill that is the Inchcliffe Castle's engine running. Captain Ball has utter faith in him, and even his arch-nemesis Mr Montgomery concedes that he is indeed a miracle-worker in the engine room.

Glencannon's misadventures usually revolve around his quest either to swindle his way to easy wealth, to get drunk, or (usually) both. Sometimes in cahoots with young Mr Levy, the ship's radio officer, usually subject to opposing action from Mr Montgomery (a Militant Teetotaller), and often rescuing Capt. Ball from one predicament or another, Glencannon drinks his way around the world, and usually comes out on top of the heap. Along the way he meets up on several occasions with his Goliath of a cousin, Douglas Glencannon, in service with the Argyle and Dumbarton Highlanders (whose thirst exceeds even Colin's); his sullenly dangerous nephew Duncan ("Mother always said that if there was any man in Scotland who could out-drink a Glencannon, it was another Glencannon. Then she'd always mention you, Uncle Colin."); crosses swords on several occasions with the despised Virgil Hazlitt, tightfisted and caustic manager of the company; MacKenzie Duggan, owner of an enterprise near and dear to Glencannon's heart (and liver), a certain distilled product, "Duggan's Dew of Kirikintilloch," which Glencannon purchases and consumes by the case, and a veritable menagerie of cut-throats, ruffians, sailors, smugglers, rum-runners (many stories take place in the US during Prohibition), customs & revenue officers, policemen, Greek admirals, and Bolsheviks.

These stories originally ran in the Saturday Evening Post, from the 1930s to the 1950s, and were reputedly the favorite and most-requested series of the magazine. Yes, despite appearances, these stories are the work of a Yank. (The few times Glencannon finds himself the loser of an adventure, there seems to be an American involved!) The stories have stood the test of time well; they are not woefully dated. Aside from the occasional difficulty encountered in "Yonkee Prohibeetion territory," and that Glencannon's precious engines are of a type not seen afloat for 50 years (triple expansion steam cylinder), the tales still stand up well -- they are primarily stories of people, and people are still the same. There are a few --well, more than a few I guess-- *ahem* ethnic references and characterizations which are considered improper today. Thin-skinned readers be cautioned.

Please, do yourself a favor, buy and read!