Doctor Dogbody's Leg

by James Norman Hall

James Norman Hall is best known as the coauthor of the classic Bounty trilogy. In his later years, his favorite work was writing the tales spun by Dr. Dogbody, a peg-legged old salt who never lets the truth get in the way of a good story. Doctor Dogbody's tales vividly recreate the Napoleonic Wars, and delight with broad comedy, rollicking naval adventure, and characters that will live on in the reader's memory.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Nautical, Adventure, Humor, Classics, Military Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

An American author best known for the novel Mutiny on the Bounty with co-author Charles Nordhoff.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's actually kind of hard to find a copy; I had to browse the used book sites. Oddly enough I heard about it from a podcast where Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones said that this would be the book he would take with him if he were stranded on a desert island.

[Colin MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I were more a fan of military fiction in general, I'm sure I'd rate this higher. Even so, it's quite enjoyable. Probably 3.5 stars.

At its core, it's a collection of short stories about naval battles and related shenanigans ranging from the American Revolution to the Napoleonic wars. The framing for them all is brilliant: a retired ship's doctor in a pub in Portsmouth recounting, on a variety of occasions, completely different and rather tall tales of how he lost his leg. Absurd coincidences and unlikely encounters with historical figures abound.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nautical fiction. Ripping yarns from James Norman Hall, the co-author of Mutiny on the Bounty.
A collection of short stories, told in a small and colorful Portsmouth tavern called the Cheerful Tortoise.
Each of Royal Navy surgeon Dr. Dogbody's tales recount how he lost his leg, and each story is different. It has been compared to C. S. Forester's Hornblower series, but I think it calls to mind George MacDonald Fraser's Harry Flashman novels. Like Flashman, Forrest Gump and Doctor Who, the good Doctor hobnobs with the historically famous, from Ben Franklin to Catherine the Great.
Hall captures the spirit of the times as well as the detail.
So heave to under the good Doctor's lee, drop anchor and share a pint or two o' Will Tunn's best, and perhaps you can convince F. Dogbody to tell you the true story of how he lost his leg.

[Mark Mcguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorites, from the co-author of Mutiny on the Bounty. I do not own many collections of short stories. The format that really resonates with me is the novel. The short format is a distant runner-up. That's just how I'm put together. This book is the exception that proves the rule. Any attempt to separate me from my copy could cost you an extremity. I have spent many a pleasant evening, fireside at the Cheerful Tortoise, enthralled by the Doctor's wonderful yarns. Each individual tale provides us with a highly entertaining narrative, but in each, Dogbody recounts quite differently how he came to be separated from the infamous limb. This book is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Great for reading cover to cover or just stopping by for awhile to tag tag along on any one of the good Doctor's humorous adventures.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are great stories, now if only I knew how he'd lost that leg....

[Brian Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend recommended this and I had to dig it out of one of the local libraries - if the card in back is to be believed I may be the first person to take it out since 1954.

And that is a crying shame, because the book is wonderful. A stunning display of the raconteur's art, with absurdities bound inside verisimilitude growing with each increasingly outlandish tale, itself bound inside the cozy comforts of old friends sharing drinks in an English seaside tavern. I just loved it, beginning to end. Hall's body of work indicates a deep knowledge of the Navy and the time period, and it's all cunningly arranged in each tale.

if you can find it, read it.

[Chad E Spilman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful collection of storytelling by doctor dogbody out at sea during the later half of the 1700s. He begins each chapter in the Tortoise tavern amongst naval friends and with his audience he tells the most outrageous accounts on the many ships that he did serve. Most of the story's include how he lost his leg and the many cherished relationships he incurred out at sea.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like sailors? Do you like drinking? Do you like tall tales? Then this book is for you my friend. An excellent series of short stories that totally capture the culture of the royal navy. Up there with the aubrey maturin books and hornblower as one of the classics of naval fiction. Highly recommended.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norman Hall was a WWI flying ace and, eventually, an emigre to Tahiti. He wrote the Bounty trilogy, among other things, and wrote this piece of doggerel to amuse himself. It is the story of how a British naval surgeon of the Napoleonic Wars era lost his leg--told thirteen times in thirteen different versions, all hilarious and all verified by a hodgepodge of characters who wander through the countryside inn where we find him. I hope to find another book this amusing and well written, but I doubt I will.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a group of short stories of how Doctor Dogbody lost his leg...10 different ways! I don't know why, but this put me to sleep!

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avast, ye! Yaar, I not be ruinin' anything by tellin' ye that Dr. Dogbody, that old Royal Navy sawbones--loses his leg in a different, but epic fashion in each of these stories. This was funnier in theory than in execution. But 'tis eddy-fyin' by the by. The stories feature a variety of humorous situations, but I kind of felt like reading one of them was the same as reading them all. It would have been funnier if, as in classic tall tale telling, the protagonist loses his leg in a more epic fashion than the last, but I felt that the stories did not maintain any momentum from one to the next. Never the less, I thought the concept was a great modern update of an important (and oh-so-underrated) subgenre of satire: the tall tale. James Hall, I doff my tricorne to ye, ye salty olde wordsmythe!

[Sully Augustine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars out of 5 - I read a hardback from the library over the past couple of weeks. Some of the stories are excellent, others only reasonably good. A crusty old naval surgeon telling tales in a pub to other crusty old age of sail veterans.

[David Hemond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1939, unheard of by me until two weeks ago, this book of sea yarns by an author of Mutiny on the Bounty is a classic spun in the Cheerful Tortoise of Portsmouth by a Napoleonic era British naval surgeon. Wit, adventure, a hoot!

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A warm bedtime story book.

[LD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surgeon F Dogbody, what a character. Wonderful book. British Naval fiction, each chapter is different tale on how Dogbody lost his leg - laughed a bunch.

[Shawn Shawhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many short stories about how Doctor Dogbody lost his leg in the olden days of British sailing warships. With each story a different and humorous telling of his leg being lost. Fun stuff.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent stories! How has this fallen out-of-print again?

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some pleasant seafaring tales

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I please call this "a ripping yarn"? Pleeease? I've wanted to use that term ever since reading pirate stories as a kid and am delighted to find a book that actually merits it.

This is not the type of book I would normally look for or respond to if I simply saw its blurb on a back cover or website. Not a real high-seas-lark reader typically. But someone in my neighborhood put it out in a box of other books and the front cover was well-designed enough (I judge by covers, so sue me) to halt me in my speed-walk to the subway, so I picked it up. Then I couldn't put it down.

Doctor Dogbody's Leg was the kind of book that makes you read passages out loud to your long-suffering spouse, haplessly trying to play a war game on his Wii, just so you have someone to laugh with. There's such witty storytelling and indelible characters in these short stories — it reads like a nautically-themed David Sedaris. Hall never falters in capturing the cadences and deadpan humor of his narrator, making Doctor Dogsbody's voice one you long to hear in your ear not just read on the page. What you wouldn't give to be in that pub by the end of this book.

The stories launch with the improbable and just get zanier from there. After awhile you stop questioning where he finds the inventiveness and just go along for the ride. Some stories are better than others, of course, but you don't need to have caution when reading them in quick succession. Although doing that can sometimes reveal a sameness in a short story writer's tongue, so I generally pace myself when reading collections, this was like eating a superlative candy...you know you should pace yourself but each one tastes pretty much as good as the last. Or be more restrained than I was — it's also a book you can dip into now and then and not lose the thread of the over-arching theme or characters.

I really did laugh out loud and I've kept it on my shelf through one move already, so it's one I can recommend. Good for: modern thriller readers who like rollercoaster momentum and fast-paced escapades; fans of Sedaris-like, Colbert-ish and other intelligent and ironic comedy; lovers of classics with lush language, by authors like Dickens and Shakespeare; and, of course, people who like their boats and the sea.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good one to read when you're trying not to get ahead of your Patrick O'Brian book club, written by the fellow who coauthored Mutiny on the Bounty. The prose isn't quite as delicious as O'Brian's, and I have some trouble with books that are meant to be funny (Why the quirky names?! I blame you for the infestation, Dickens), but it was light and engaging and scratched the nautical itch. (Not a euphemism.) The book was recommended to me by my stage combat teacher J. David Brimmer, who looks like an evil Santa Claus and walks with a cane, so I mentally stuck him in as Doctor Dogbody. :0)

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

It had been quite some time, and it was certainly worth the re-read. I think it helps to be an armchair sailor - nautical and period jargon is cast about with some frequency, but most can be picked up by context or safely glossed over.

The main meat of the thing is 1o chapters, each a ripping yarn as told by Dr. Dogbody to his friends in the local pub, about how he lost his larboard (that's left to you lubbers) leg. Fantastic stories that I would recommend to anyone, not just age-of-sail fans.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book nestled in the back of an old trade-in bookstore. It is by far the best book I have found there, and it has become one of my all time favorites as well. The story is very well-written, filled with adventurous tales at sea (with some parts on land as well), and each tale is charmingly told, with interesting and well-developed characters. As Doctor Dogbody concludes each tale, you'll find yourself eager to discover what happens next.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favourites, this is a brilliant light hearted tale of a retired ships doctor who has a wooden leg. It is a tale about his adventures in which he relates how he came to lose his leg to various travellers whom he meets in The Cheerful Tortoise, his local inn. Each tale is even more outrageous than than the last and is totally absorbing. It’s a truly delightful and humorous foray into the world of a dedicated storyteller.

[Dean Cycon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the best collection of far-fetched sea tales ever published. The authors are noted historians and authors who towards the end of their lives decided to have some fun and create one of the most memorable characters t walk the decks of the British Navy during the Napoleonic period. Each tale is a different retelling of how the good Dr. Dogbody lost his leg in the service of the Crown. Hilarious, creative and totally inspiring!

[Steve Mickelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a birthday present. I had no idea what to expect. This is a very funny book. It is such a unique concept. Each chapter tells the story of how Doctor Dogbody lost his leg while serving in the British Navy. Is Dr. Dogbody just the biggest liar ever? Whether he is or not he spins a great yarn. Many rollicking adventures await the intrepid reader.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. Its a collection of stories, told by Dr. Dogbody, as to how he lost his leg. The stories are very entertaining. The setting is England in the early 1800's, so there is a little effort required to decipher the language of the time, but its just a minor thing.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the original edition which has some good illustrations. Doctor Dogbody lost his leg during his service in the British Navy. Each story tells a different, inventive tale of how it was lost. While you can't call any of them probable, each is as likely as the next. Fun book.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Read it on Keith Richards' recommendation on a BBC show as his desert island book. It was hard to find a copy for sale at a decent price but found it at the local library. I highly recommend it!

[Dean King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious nautical romp by one of the authors of the Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.