The 1993 Wordsworth edition (with Max Beerbohm on the cover) is awful.

First, the print strained my eyes -- the first time that's ever happened to this lifelong reader.

Second, it was riddled with misprints, and I finally gave up and bought the Penguin edition when I found that at least one page was missing (with a copy of an earlier page in its place).

The stories are excellent, but you need to read them in a different edition to this one.

In the introduction to this book is included the statement, “Saki’s short stories of urbane malice are like a fine dessert wine – they should be sipped, and savoured slowly; so intense are they that to read them at one sitting may induce a kind of literary dyspepsia.” I could not agree more. I approached this collection in such a fashion and cannot imagine trying to quickly read through this collection. Each story is a gem, and should be admired and reflected upon similar to the way one approaches gems – looked at from every side in order to fully appreciate the beauty; because these are beautiful pieces and each will have its own resonance and attraction.

Saki’s wry commentaries about life and subtle twists to bring them to conclusion are each a crafted work of art. Sure, not all are masterpieces. But, even when not quite hitting the mark, there is still enjoyment in watching the craftsman at work. And just about the time you think you have a handle on Saki’s humor, along comes a chilling story about werewolves, or a ghost story, or a collection about the war that shakes you from the comfortable satire evident in other pieces. It is easy to try and pigeonhole Saki’s work, but this full collection will help anyone broaden their understanding. Nowhere is this more evident than in the novels. Neither is what one would expect from Saki. While the wryness is still evident, neither has the lightheartedness the short stories bring forward. The first (The Unbearable Bassington) tells the tragedy of the British stiff upper lip in regards to a wayward son, and the second (When Willam Came) was an alternate history where Germany had taken over England. I will always retain the image from one of the later chapters where a displaced Englishwoman watches the Union Jack raised in a far away land. At first, I almost lowered the rating of this book because of the inclusion of these pieces. (Saki’s writing becomes a bit much in the short novel format), yet the skill was still there, the stories were still moving, and they have both haunted me after the reading.

Whether just now discovering Saki or already a fan, this is the ultimate book. Collections of complete works often have weak points (no one can always get it right), but the weak points in this one excels the best of most other authors’ works. ( )

I finally finished my copy of The Complete Short Stories of Saki (H. H. Munro). Witty, dark, just plain fun to read.

Most of the stories collected in the above volume are in the public domain and available to read for free online:

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/autho...
http://haytom.us/index.php

Some of my favorite stories (among the very many that are excellent):

- Ministers of Grace
- The Cobweb
- The Feast of Nemesis
- The Elk
- The Hounds of Fate
- The Interlopers
- The Occasional Garden
- The Stalled Ox
- The Storyteller ( )

The guy is on the same level as that of Chekov and Maugham. Almost all of his stories are full of morbid wit and sarcasm that all other Edwardian tales (think: The Little Princess) seem too stiff and wooden. His style is akin to that of aristocratic English authors, but never a difficult read like that of Dickens. Highly Highly recommended!! ( )