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I Got References
Hardcover (no jacket); the extremely scarce first printing (Michael Joseph, 1939). 287pp; dark cloth with (rubbed) red spine lettering. Spine is worn and slightly creased; dent on rear board; corners bumped, affecting upper page corners to various degrees. Page block and a few pages are foxed; a few pen marks and one or two light dents on the former. Text is clear throughout. Further photographs available upon request. TS
- GenresShort Stories
190 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1947
10 people want to read
About the author
Gerald Kersh
109 books62 followersGerald Kersh was born in Teddington-on-Thames, near London, and, like so many writers, quit school to take on a series of jobs -- salesman, baker, fish-and-chips cook, nightclub bouncer, freelance newspaper reporter and at the same time was writing his first two novels.
In 1937, his third published novel, Night and the City, hurled him into the front ranks of young British writers. Twenty novels later Kersh created his personal masterpiece, Fowler's End, regarded by many as one of the outstanding novels of the century. He also, throughout his long career, wrote more than 400 short stories and over 1,000 articles.
Once a professional wrestler, Kersh also fought with the Coldstream Guards in World War II. His account of infantry training They Die With Their Boots Clean (1941), became an instant best-seller during that war.
After traveling over much of the world, he became an American citizen, living quietly in Cragsmoor, in a remote section of the Shawangunk Mountains in New York State. He died in Kingston, NY, in 1968.
(Biography compiled from "Nightmares & Damnations" and Fantastic Fiction.)
In 1937, his third published novel, Night and the City, hurled him into the front ranks of young British writers. Twenty novels later Kersh created his personal masterpiece, Fowler's End, regarded by many as one of the outstanding novels of the century. He also, throughout his long career, wrote more than 400 short stories and over 1,000 articles.
Once a professional wrestler, Kersh also fought with the Coldstream Guards in World War II. His account of infantry training They Die With Their Boots Clean (1941), became an instant best-seller during that war.
After traveling over much of the world, he became an American citizen, living quietly in Cragsmoor, in a remote section of the Shawangunk Mountains in New York State. He died in Kingston, NY, in 1968.
(Biography compiled from "Nightmares & Damnations" and Fantastic Fiction.)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 12, 2023
My father had bought the 1st edition of this book in 1939 & I always remember it being in our bookcase when I was young. I recently found this edition and after reading the opening paragraph of the first story: “it was only reasonable that Mrs Payne would die of diabetes. She always was amazingly sweet.” I knew these stories would be interesting. Gerald Kersh has a great power of description and a turn of phrase that bring to life what would otherwise be rather innocuous cameos of Kersh’s life in the 1920s & 39s. “Her sufferings were unprecedented, but she bore them with a patience which would have made Job seem like an infuriated American salesman in tight shoes, a piece of grit in his eye and a hang-over.”
He describes a Russian acquaintance: “He was a scurrilous old Russian, bitter as aloes, with bright brown beady eyes which were as clear and as soulless as blobs of varnish.”
Guy de Maupassant doesn’t escape Kersh’s acerbic wit: “The unhappy de Maupassant, he knew all about fates worse than death, with his brain writhing like an eel on a hot-plate, and his soul, like a paper parcel in a drain, drifting down and down on hidden currents of mysterious gloom.” But I think or of the best description are of middle-aged to elderly men in a Turkish bath: “Under showers they stagger and gurgle in utter wretchedness while their venerable hair protrudes in clownish spires. Sighing, weeping, belching, snorting, hiccuping, hawking, flatulently trumpeting, giving out borborygmic thunder, screaming, shouting and finally snoring like horses, they sleep a little, then rise, dress, and become again picturesque old gentlemen.”
I am rather surprised that this book is not better known.
He describes a Russian acquaintance: “He was a scurrilous old Russian, bitter as aloes, with bright brown beady eyes which were as clear and as soulless as blobs of varnish.”
Guy de Maupassant doesn’t escape Kersh’s acerbic wit: “The unhappy de Maupassant, he knew all about fates worse than death, with his brain writhing like an eel on a hot-plate, and his soul, like a paper parcel in a drain, drifting down and down on hidden currents of mysterious gloom.” But I think or of the best description are of middle-aged to elderly men in a Turkish bath: “Under showers they stagger and gurgle in utter wretchedness while their venerable hair protrudes in clownish spires. Sighing, weeping, belching, snorting, hiccuping, hawking, flatulently trumpeting, giving out borborygmic thunder, screaming, shouting and finally snoring like horses, they sleep a little, then rise, dress, and become again picturesque old gentlemen.”
I am rather surprised that this book is not better known.
January 26, 2018
Truly remarkable, and overlooked classic. There is more life and reality in this slim volume than the combined next 10 movies you’ll watch or 10 novels you’ll read. I feel like I’ve spent an afternoon with a young Gerald Kersh, and listened to him tell the first amazing 20 stories that came to his mind. Based on his real experiences, the characters and dialogue are stunningly vivid. With each chapter a different short slice of life, this is a buffet of grotesque, sad, maligned misfits and forgotten, strange characters and tales. ‘I Got References’ is classic, first tier Kersh.
January 26, 2021
The great Gerald Kersh has written many masterful works of literature. This, I can easily say, is one of his best. I have mentioned this elsewhere, but this is a unique book in Kersh's bibliography in that it is basically impossible to categorise. It is at once like a pseudo-autobiography, a collection of short stories (be they realistic, supernatural or in the vein of tall tales), partly a novel (some of it reads like a fix-up novel) and it also can be seen as a mosaic of vignettes that share a theme, kind of like a concept album.
The above would be fascinating enough to warrant a read as it is...but then again, this is Kersh after all. It goes out its way to be impeccably written and engaging. Kersh's trademark way with prose, with his excellent turns of phrase and wordplay, keep you captivated to the end. His stories here range from his real fights with a bully as a child, to paranormal stories like the one about his father nearly falling prey to a siren. They are at times heart-breaking, hilarious, thrilling and shocking.
If you are a Kersh fan, you need to read this. It is unlike any of his other works.
The above would be fascinating enough to warrant a read as it is...but then again, this is Kersh after all. It goes out its way to be impeccably written and engaging. Kersh's trademark way with prose, with his excellent turns of phrase and wordplay, keep you captivated to the end. His stories here range from his real fights with a bully as a child, to paranormal stories like the one about his father nearly falling prey to a siren. They are at times heart-breaking, hilarious, thrilling and shocking.
If you are a Kersh fan, you need to read this. It is unlike any of his other works.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews