Light-hearted work introduces Innocent Smith, a bubbly, eccentric gentleman of questionable character, into the lives of a group of young disillusioned people-and the result is inspired, high-spirited nonsense.

Perhaps the most light-hearted of all Chesterton's serious works, Manalive pits a group of disillusioned young people against Mr. Innocent Smith, a bubbly, high-spirited gentleman who literally falls into their midst. Accused of murder and denounced for repeatedly marrying his wife and attempting to live in various houses (all of which turn out to be his own), Smith prompts his newfound acquaintances to recognize an important idea: that life is worth living.