The host introduced the title as a sentimental novel by Ernest Temple Thurston, noting it was his first financially successful work and describing its simple plot about an impoverished writer who gives his last penny to a girl and they meet in Kensington Gardens. She read passages from chapters 3‑5 as a hypnotic bedtime story, emphasizing its public‑domain status and gentle charm. The overall tone was appreciative but not a strong endorsement.
Episode: Hypnotic Bedtime Story: The City of Beautiful Nons...
It was described as a sentimental novel about an impoverished writer who gives his last penny to a girl in a church so she can buy a candle, and they begin meeting in Kensington Gardens. This was Ernest Temple Thurston's first financially successful book after publishing two books of poems at 16. The podcast host is reading from chapters 3 and 4, and maybe a little of chapter 5.
Tonight, The City of Beautiful Nonsense.
I'd never heard of this book, but I'm constantly trolling the internet for literature in the public domain, and having read from some of the most famous stuff, I've been getting into the less famous stuff.
The City of Beautiful Nonsense was written by British writer Ernest Temple Thurston and published in 1909 and was described as a sentimental novel.
It's a simple story in which an impoverished writer gives his last penny to a girl in a church so she can buy a candle.
Then they begin meeting in Kensington Gardens.