The Cost of Kindness : White Press : 9781473316300 : 1473316308 : 04 Jun 2014 : This early work by Jerome K. Jerome was originally published in the early 20th century and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Cost of Kindness' is a humorous short story about a town that tries to overthrow its disliked priest with kindness. Jerome Klapka Jerome was born in Walsall, England in 1859. Both his parents died while he was in his early teens, and he was forced to quit school to support himself. In 1889, Jerome published his most successful and best-remembered work, 'Three Men in a Boat'. Featuring himself and two of his friends encountering humorous situations while floating down the Thames in a small boat, the book was an instant success, and has never been out of print. In fact, its popularity was such that the number of registered Thames boats went up fifty percent in the year following its publication.