This book, with its ordinary title, launched a series of adventures starring the family Bagthorpe, an eccentric bunch of madcappers. Their actions are slapstick, the humor arch, the characters-well, they've been called obnoxious. But only in the best of spirits, because once readers latch on to this group, they'll have to read all the books, straight through. Look also to Bagthorpes Unlimited, Bagthorpes Abroad, Absolute Zero, and several other titles.