Ever since Chaucer's day, when the host of the Tabard Inn in Southwark rose to welcome the Canterbury Pilgrims with a joke, the After Dinner Speech, designed, if possible, to reduce the assembled company to helpless merriment, has presented the ultimate challenge.
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With their outrageous tastes and boundless energy, the Larkins have charmed many a reader. Alice Tait’s illustrations for Folio capture the epicurean excesses of this flamboyant family.
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They are what Churchill called 'the gleaming toys of history' – a collection of entertaining stories, many of them biographical, that light up past and present and fix them in our memories.
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Devastatingly incisive and irresistibly funny, this collection of character sketches by E. F. Benson introduces us to the inhabitants of that most rarefied haunt of civilisation – the Mayfair of the Edwardian heyday.
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Douglas Adams brilliantly combines science fiction with the finest tradition of English humour. In this, the first of his ‘trilogy of five’, he introduces Earthbound readers to Zaphod Beeblebrox, Marvin the Paranoid Android, Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, the Babel fish and the stolen Heart of Gold starship.
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The unconventional and fascinating Mitfords epitomised the great political divide of their day. In this sparkling and moving memoir, Jessica, the 'red sheep' of the family, recounts her rebellious and remarkable early life.
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Mark Twain's reputation grew ever larger as the rest of the world caught up with his wickedly dry wit. In these stories, satires, travel pieces, speeches, letters and anecdotes, Twain pokes fun at himself and other Americans in places as diverse as the Mississippi riverboats and the castles of Europe.
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David Niven was a member of Hollywood's inner circle during its golden age, so when he published his hilarious memoir, it delighted readers around the world with its uproarious mixture of racy reminiscences and intimate portraits of show-business legends.
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Bryson's account of his farewell tour of Britain by public transport is a hilarious and affectionate tribute by Britain's funniest adopted son.
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From causing havoc on building sites to hitting small girls with a wet handkerchief, from inopportune reactions in the swimming pool to obsessive longing for one girl after another, Clive James’s outspoken and delightful memoir of growing up in post-war Australia has won a place in the hearts of readers the world over.
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The name of Oscar Wilde has become synonymous with wit. This volume brings together some of the finest and most biting examples - chosen by his grandson from a wide range of essays, stories, plays and poetry - all of them the authentic product of the man who claimed he had nothing to declare but his genius.
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