Journals of Bartholomew Bandy
1 primary work • 2 total works
Book 6
On the run, ex-fighter pilot Bart Bandy finds his life starting to unravel.
Flying to Britain in his self-designed amphibious aircraft, Bart makes a forced landing in Reykjavik, is rescued by a beautiful but bossy blonde who takes a shine to him, and finally sinks his precious plane in the drink while saving the life of a novice pilot who has come down in the North Sea.
The boy turns out to be the son of a fabulously rich Indian maharajah, whose shopping list features a complete airforce full of pilots and planes. As Bart can barely scrape together fourpence ha'penny for a pint of beer these days, it looks like his luck has turned . . .
With the blackest of black comedy and seat-of-the pants escapades, Donald Jack's series about a young pilot is uniquely funny and compelling.
What people are saying about The Bandy Papers:"Reading can lead to involuntary bursts of loud laughter."
"Very descriptive, full of air combats and written with a fine eye for period detail . . . there is quite simply no finer book of its kind. Highly recommended."
"It is clear that Bandy likely should've been killed several times, but very likely the Grim Reaper was laughing too hard to hold his scythe straight . . ."
"Hysterically funny! . . . each book is another installment in the continuing saga of a Canadian and his adventures in war, the world, and women."
"I have yet to find another author with the wit and humor of Donald Jack."
Editorial reviews:"Jack does more than play it for laughs . . . The mingling of humor and horror is like a clown tap-dancing on a coffin, but Jack is skillful enough to get away with it." Time Magazine
"Funny. Very. Donald Jack has as light a touch with this fragile art as his hero has on throttle of a Sopwith Camel. Excessive corn is avoided in favour of wit and a delight in life." New York Times
"Bartholomew Bandy is the most remarkable hero (or anti-hero) since Harold Lloyd impersonated the Freshman." Chicago Tribune
"To know Bandy is to love him . . . you tend to gallop through and come hurtling out at the end panting for more." The Sunday Sun
"For those to whom Bandy is a newcomer, what a treat is in store." Toronto Star
This edition also includes Donald Jack's novelette "Where Did Rafe Madison Go?" Jack wrote the story just as the fate of the Avro Arrow was still up in the air (the first test flight taking place in March ’58, and the programme’s termination coming only four months after the story was published). In “Where Did Rafe Madison Go?” Jack imagines a future delta-winged descendant of the Arrow – the CF-108 – and takes us through the RCAF court martial that is trying to uncover the explanation for the plane’s mysterious disappearance, an incident that even the pilot, Rafe Madison, doesn’t understand.