Customer Reviews

Three Cheers for Me (The Bandy Papers, Vol. 1)

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I first read "Three Cheers For Me" and the next two volumes back in the seventies. And I have yet to find another author with the wit and humor of Donald Jack. This book is set in World War One but is so funny that anyone who is not a war buff would truely enjoy reading it. I found myself days later cracking up over the antics of our hero leaving everyone to wonder what was so funny and if I had lost my mind. I had been searching for this book for sometime without success, but then discovered Amazon.com. And thank god, I was able to with their help to find this treasure of a book and add it to my collection. I recommend this book for anyone who would love to sit down and laugh for hours.

I was fortunate enough to by volumes 1 to 3 in the early seventies (paperback), and have read them again and again. The character Bartholomew Bandy was a masterful creation and I have despaired many times over the unavailability of these books - particular as my copies are now showing their age. How I wish the series would be reprinted in the U.K. - and given full media coverage. The series began, I believe, as a radio series in Canada - now probably lost in the mists of time. Donald Jacks is a comic genius, and his creation will live with me forever. 'Three Cheers for Donald Jack'...

I found this book as a used book in Canada and have searched for additional titles by Donald Jack for years. If any book series should be brought back, this is it.

...is how I would classify the first of this series of books. I started reading this, attending airshows and drooling over vintage aircraft, in the '70's, a time when the beautiful Mustangs, Spitfires, and other warbirds were being flown by men not yet old who had flown them in WW2. Now I am nearly the same age as these old heroes, yet traces of that geeky, plane-crazy, hero-worshipping kid yet remain.
Enter Bandy, Bartholomew, Lieutenant (acting Captain? Major? Generaloberst? who can tell??) of the R.F.C. He embodies many of those qualities which throughout Canada's history have driven our allies crazy (and our enemies, God take pity on them, even crazier). After starting a very unpromising carreer as an infantry officer in which he manages to capture his own C.O., Bandy ends up transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, where he finds his niche with his feet firmly planted several thousand feet above the ground (and onto his rudder pedals). A natural flier and marksman-quality shooter, he soon makes a name for himself as a fearless, cold-blooded Knight of the Air. On the ground, however, he tends to fall apart in the face (and other parts) of shy young English maidens, buxom French not-so-maidens, English reserve, English plumbing, and King George V.
Throughout this time there are many very technically accurate vignettes of air warfare in the Great War. It is clear that Bandy likely should've been killed several times, but very likely the Grim Reaper was laughing too hard to hold his scythe straight...

I was given this book about 20 years ago. I found it to be incredibly funny - the kind of humour that would make you laugh out loud ages after having put the book down. This will sometimes cause you embarrassment in public places and give rise to "where has he escaped from" looks from surrounding people. Read this book!!

I found this book in a Danish used bookstore in 1978. I bought it for two reasons: 1) it was in English, and 2) it had an illustration on the cover of two WWI fighters and I tend to like war stories. What I found was that it was hysterically funny! As I read it on the European trains, I had to keep leaving the compartment for the hallway so that I could laugh out loud without disturbing the other passengers. Over the years, I have collected as much Donald Jack as I could find, and each book is another installment in the continuing saga of a Canadian and his adventures in war, the world, and women. Mr. Jack has a keen eye for human foibles and presents them in such a way so that we can see some of ourselves in the behavior of the hero and the background players. I highly recommend anything by Donald Jack.

I have remembered this series since I read it many years ago. What I didn't know was how deeply it had sunk into my being. I have re-read the first three books and am amazed at how much of Bandy I see in myself. As the main character, Bartholomew Bandy, developed and grew, he learned many lessons about life, living, and social interaction. It is only now, after many years, that I realize I have taken to heart many of the lessons Bandy learned. This was and still is a very funny story and I am forever grateful to its author.