A Beautiful Books audio first, produced by Paul Kent.

Whatever happened to the shaggy dog story? Very few, if any seem to be published these days. Maybe our lives are all too pressurised and full-on to allow us to kick back and read an engaging, diverting, well-told gentle story full of inconsequential ramblings that often goes nowhere. Or maybe we take life too seriously.

Which is, of course, to completely miss the point. A good shaggy dog story will captivate without you being aware of it. And with no discernible effort whatsoever, it transports the reader (or listener) into its own slightly askew reality, where time is of no consequence.

PG Wodehouse was a master of the shaggy dog story, through his masterful fictional storytellers such as Mr Mulliner, The Oldest Member and even Bertie Wooster himself. But a close competitor was Neil Munro, creator of the much-loved "Tales of Para Handy", three volumes of which were published from 1906 to 1923. These have been televised no fewer than 3 times, most recently in the 1990's with Gregor Fisher as the garrulous master mariner.

The twenty-five stories read here by David Rintoul hail from the first collection, and every one's a gem. David was a huge fan of the 1960's TV series with Roddy McMillan in the starring role, and his love (and knowledge) of the tales shines out in his bravura performance. In the course of this audio, you'll get to know the regular cast - not just Para Handy himself, but the ship's irascible and scary engineer, Macphail, never without a penny "novella" in his hand; then there's The Tar, the lazy deckhand - and who can forget Dougie, the superstitious ship's mate? Then there's the network of supporting characters - West Coast locals to a man (and woman) - canny, outspoken, lugubrious, eccentric . . . . and huge fun. It's like having a second family.

Yes, it was a more innocent time, and yes, time didn't move as fast as it does now. But if you can't make time for stories as good as these, a serious life re-appraisal is required. Try listening to one of them on your busy commute, and you'll arrive with a smile on your face, caring little or nothing for the fact that you're late. Time isn't everything . . .

Details

• ISBN 9781905636532
• Publication date: 2009
• Format: MP3 unabridged
• RRP: £8.99