Sam Small Flies Again

by Eric Knight

You've heard of Sam Small, of course. He's the little man who can answer any knotty question that comes up at the Spread Eagle tavern where the lads of Polkingthorpe Brig like to gather. Some of the time he's an ordinary mortal - as full of stubbornness and shrewdness and truthfulness as any Yorkshireman who ever blev the foam off four or five pints of good ale in an evening. The rest of the time...

Well, you'll have to read to believe how he learned to fly like a bird, by faith; how he changed a dog into a lass and back again; how he coped with the two selves of his split personality; and how he was called upon to explain the tricky foreign phrase, droit de seigneur, which said in effect that the duke of the neighboring parish was required by law to go to bed wih Ian Cawper's Mary Ann the night of their wedding.

Genres: Fiction

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

An author who is mainly notable for creating the fictional collie Lassie.

He was a native of Yorkshire in England, and had a varied career, including service in the Canadian Army during World War I and spells as an art student, newspaper reporter and Hollywood screenwriter.

His first novel was Song on Your Bugles (1936) about the working class in Northern England. As "Richard Hallas," he wrote the hardboiled genre novel "You Play The Black and The Red Comes Up" (1938). Knight's "This Above All" is considered one of the significant novels of The Second World War.

Knight and his wife Jere Knight raised collies on their farm in Pleasant Valley, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His novel Lassie Come-Home (ISBN 0030441013) appeared in 1940. It was adapted into a movie in 1943 and has been reprinted several times since then.

In 1943, at which time he was a major in the United States Army - Special Services, Knight was killed in an air crash in Dutch Guiana (now Surinam).

Reviews

[Marthie Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book that I bought in Budapest off a Gypsy caravan bookshop, a bit tattered, but very worth the price. It was published in Switzerland in 1947 & had the curious phrase “not to be introduced into the British empire or the U.S.A.” across the bottom of the cover. Anyone have any idea why this might have been about?
The Subtitle on the title page says The Amazing Adventures of the Flying Yorkshireman.
I love the tall tale, almost fairytale style of the story, with many moments of laughter throughout. It made me want to go and experience Yorkshire myself, although I’m sure it’s changed a lot from that long ago time.
Chapters are complete stories and can be read on their own so you can pick it up and set it aside for later…

[Monica]

this is esther again. another favorite book if not my most favorite. this is the story of sam small a yorkshire man who wakes up one morning and decides that he can fly on his own two hands. So he does. I recommend it for all those who know that dogs talk, sundays cant be repeated seven days on a row so that monday never comes .

[Elinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something so satisfying about reading an old book with thick, bevelled pages. This first edition even includes a photograph and biography of each author. These novellas are like long short stories, each one very different. Taken together they provide a glimpse into the United States as it existed in the 1930s.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not the character made famous in Stanley Holloway's series of monologues (the soldier who wouldn't pick oop his musket is referenced as an ancestor in a footnote) these are mostly fun humourous fantasies and shaggy dog stories by the author who would create "Lassie."

Best of the bunch are The Flying Yorkshireman, Sam Small's Tyke and the delightful Never Come Monday (a story that would have made a great Ealing comedy.) The last two pieces in the book though, both ww2 propaganda stories, are rather forced and not as enjoyable.

[Leila Székely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gyerekregény vagy inkább novella gyűjtemény. Viszont sok ponton nagyon is a valós világbeli emberi gondolatokat, viselkedést vezeti végig a kicsit szürreális történetekben.
Pl. miért nem tudunk teljesíteni, ha nem hiszünk magunkban.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun!