The Man Who Was Thursday (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading): A Nightmare

By G. K. Chesterton and Bruce F. Murphy

The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare 1908 is the most renowned and critically acclaimed novel by the prolific G. K. Chesterton. Equal parts mystery, suspense story, allegory, and farce, it is considered a classic of the spy genre while at the same time almost constitutes a genre of its own. Each rereading of The Man Who Was Thursday

The hero, Gabriel Syme, is Chestertons ideal of the virtuous Common Man. He must infiltrate and try to thwart an anarchist cell, whose heart is the mysterious and ambiguous Sunday, man whose powers seem almost godlike. Symes mission lead him through the back ways of Victorian London and on a wild Chase through the French country-side, and adventure at once madcap, surreal, and cosmically important. More than just charming tale of Dickensian characters and a mysterious man who was supposed to be "Thursday," The Man Who Was Thursday asks the dark questions: Will the human race survive? It is a question as relevant at the start of the twenty-first century as it was at the beginning of the twentieth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Sep 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781411428188

G. K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English writer, philosopher and critic known for his creative wordplay. Born in London, Chesterton attended St. Paul’s School before enrolling in the Slade School of Fine Art at University College. His professional writing career began as a freelance critic where he focused on art and literature. He then ventured into fiction with his novels The Napoleon of Notting Hill and The Man Who Was Thursday as well as a series of stories featuring Father Brown.