Author: Paul Nowak
Publisher: Eternal Revolution
ISBN: 0-9772234-9-3

Click Here To Purchase The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut

The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut is a 64 page book intended for middle grade children. It has four fictional short stories within, is written in a first person point of view, and is based on the life and works of G.K Chesterton.

If you’re like me, you might be wondering who G.K. Chesterton is. Well, thanks to Google, I found a site, Chesterton.org, dedicated to this writer.  Here is a quote from the site:

Chesterton was the best writer of the 20th century. He said something about everything and he said it better than anybody else. But he was no mere wordsmith. He was very good at expressing himself, but more importantly, he had something very good to express. The reason he was the greatest writer of the 20th century was because he was also the greatest thinker of the 20th century.

Chesterton was a very impressive man; unfortunately, Nowak does not do him justice. While the stories do have wonderful insight into life and provide a positive spin on possible negative situations, Nowak’s rendering of these four stories is a bit confusing, poorly written, and in some sections drawn out. In addition to this, it does not appear that the book was professionally edited.

What I did find interesting about this book is that at the end Nowak provides a page about “The Real Uncle Chestnut,” along with a number of quotes from Chesterton. Although there may be a couple of negative elements to this book, the idea of introducing this brilliant man to children and adults is a wonderful move. From the little I’ve read of Chesterton, he had a simple logic that rang true during his era and still does today. In fact, I get the impression that Chesterton was a positive spinner before it became such a trendy commodity today.

Here are a couple of G.K. Chesterton’s quotations from the The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut:

“An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.”

All Things Considered

“Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”

The Illustrated London News, December 2, 1905

“The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to be late for the one before.”

Tremendous Trifles

The book does not provide a biography or information about Paul Nowak, and as of this date, nor does the website for the book.

Click Here To Purchase The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut