6 h 41 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 41 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a hat blown down the street could change the way you think about trouble?
In All Things Considered, G. K. Chesterton turns small, passing things into lively arguments about how to live. These newspaper essays begin with a runaway hat, a fairy tale, a quarrel about drink, or a fashionable belief. His jokes invite you in; his questions ask you to look again at what seems obvious.
In On Running After One's Hat, inconvenience becomes a chance for adventure. In The Red Angel, fairy tales open an argument about fear and wonder. Throughout the collection, Chesterton defends ordinary people, challenges those who plan their lives, and brings Christian faith into conversation with the confident doubts of his age.
What you’ll discover
- Trouble becomes adventure Follow a runaway hat into a comic argument for meeting everyday irritation with fresh eyes.
- The passing moment matters Discover why fleeting events and daily journalism deserve more than a quick, dismissive glance.
- Paradox with a purpose Meet arguments that sound wrong at first, then unsettle the assumptions you bring to them.
- Fairy tales taken seriously Explore Chesterton's defence of wonder through stories of giants, witches, dragons, and the fears they raise.
- Ordinary lives worth defending Consider common freedoms alongside Chesterton's distrust of experts, rich reformers, and officials directing other people's lives.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love paradox, witty argument, old London, and writers who defend common sense with a grin. Fans of Father Brown will meet the mind behind him.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Vulgar jokes carry the deepest truths
- Books about Success teach nothing at all
- An adventure is an inconvenience rightly seen
- Be proud of virtues you really possess
- Optimists reform, and absurd laws harm the mind
- Hidden power is the danger of modern life
- Beware fashion, flattery and fuzzy thinking
- Nations and classes reveal themselves through symbols
- Happiness depends on one condition, and human loyalty comes first
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 41 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Considerándolo todo in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Considerándolo todo
by G. K. Chesterton · 1908
A man chases his hat through Hyde Park and finds sacred joy in it, because every nuisance hides an adventure.
Challenging5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Why do crowds laugh when a man sits on his hat? Chesterton says the answer is religious.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Vulgar jokes carry the deepest truths
Chesterton claims that popular jokes, even coarse ones, express ideas too deep for solemn language. The crowd laughs at a man who sits down suddenly in the street because man is both lord of creation and at its mercy. For Chesterton this is a joke about the dual nature of humanity.
He tests the idea on bad cheese, foreigners and mothers-in-law. Bad cheese stands for matter turning into life. The mother-in-law of the comic papers is false as fact but true in spirit, since even the best one is a delicate problem. He adds that Cockney humour, from Chaucer to Dickens, is the best in English.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Considerándolo todo
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is All Things Considered by G. K. Chesterton about?
It is a collection of short essays, first written for a newspaper, on jokes, politics, newspapers, sport, science, religion, fairy tales and Christmas. Chesterton defends common sense and tradition by turning familiar opinions upside down.
What is a Methuselahite in Chesterton's essay?
It is the word a soldier wrote as his religion on an enlistment form, meaning his creed was to live as long as he could. Chesterton uses it to sum up modern worship of mere natural life.
What does Chesterton mean by saying an adventure is an inconvenience rightly seen?
He means that most annoyances are matters of mood, not fact. Chasing a hat or waiting at a station can be thrilling if you picture it as a quest, as a child does.
The author
G. K. Chesterton
1874–1936 · English writer and Christian apologist
G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English writer born in London. He wrote novels, essays, poems and plays. His books include Heretics (1905), The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) and The Innocence of Father Brown (1911). He moved to Beaconsfield in 1909 and lived there until his death.
More by G. K. Chesterton
All 20 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
