What do you know of Jerome K. Jerome and his place in English literature?

In the history of the English literature Jerome K. Jerome

occupies a modest place. He cannot be compared with Dickens,
Thackeray, or Bernard Shaw, but he is well known as a writer-humorist
not only in his country but in other countries too.
Jerome Klapka Jerome was born in England on May 2, 1859 in
the family of ruined businessman. Jerome's childhood was poor and sad.
He could not finish school because his father died in 1871 and the boy
had to begin working to support his family. First he worked as a clerk.
Later he took up teaching journalism and acting. For three years he was an actor and had to
play different parts. He had very little money and often went hungry and had no place to
sleep. When he had free time Jerome tried to write. He wrote plays,
stories and articles, but nothing was published. His first literary
success was a one-act comedy which was performed in the Globe
theatre in London in 1886. In 1889 a collection of his articles was
published. They were published as a book under the title "The Idle
Thoughts of An Idle Fellow". This book became very popular in
England, and it was published 105 times in 4 years. In 1889 Jerome's
best book "Three Men in a Boat" also came out. "The Idle Thoughts
of an Idle Fellow" and "Three Men in a Boat" made the author
famous. The books were translated into several European languages.
In the following years Jerome published several books and plays. He went travelling all over
Europe and in 1899 he visited St. Petersburg, where he was met with great enthusiasm. He
knew the Russian literature very well.
The works of Jerome are full of humor and they can't but amuse the reader. The book
"Three Men in a Boat" includes classic comedy set-pieces, such as the story of two drunken
men who slide into the same bed in the dark, the plaster of Paris trout in chapter 17 and the
"Irish stew" in chapter 14 - made by mixing most of the leftovers in the party's food hamper:
«I forget the other ingredients, but I know nothing was wasted; and I remember that,
towards the end, Montmorency, who had evinced great interest in the proceedings
throughout, strolled away with an earnest and thoughtful air, reappearing, a few minutes
afterwards, with a dead water-rat in his mouth, which he evidently wished to present as his
contribution to the dinner; whether in a sarcastic spirit, or with a genuine desire to assist, I
cannot say.»
 Jerome K. Jerome also wrote serious books, but the
public didn't like them. He criticized German imperialism
and the policy of Britain in China. Jerome's last book was
his autobiography "My Life and Time". He died in 1927.