The city of beautiful nonsense

by E. Temple (Ernest Temple) Thurston

"The City of Beautiful Nonsense" by E. Temple Thurston is a novel published in 1909. This best-selling work earned Thurston the label of sentimentalist, a designation he acknowledged himself. The novel's romantic appeal inspired two British film adaptations, one in 1919 and another in 1935. Thurston later wrote a sequel titled "The World of Wonderful Reality" in 1919, continuing the themes that made the original a commercial success despite criticism of its sentimentality.