Edward Leeson

One doesn't expect anecdotes to be boring or hard to follow. Some are told in florid Victorian style, almost unreadable. And who on earth even are these people? The choice of anecdotes is sometimes very peculiar. Garrison Keillor's tale of the brewery is a tall tale of the Midwestern variety, a different genre altogether, and features fictional characters. I did not finish this book, so I don't know whether the editors inserted a story about Paul Bunyan, but it would not have been entirely show more out of place.

Update: On my second unsuccessful attempt to finish the book, I began to wonder whether "humorous anecdote" was an oxymoron. I did find one gem however, a tale about Dr Spooner.

Dr Spooner apparently travelled to Greenwich and spent an entire day searching for a pub named The Dull Man. When he went home in frustration and despair his wife told him in astringent tones that he was supposed to have met his party at The Green Man in Dulwich.

Now you don't have to read the book. show less

A comprehensive survey of the best poetry writtten in English, ranging across seven centuries from Chaucer to Heaney. Lightly annotated with clear explanations - one of the major advantages of this book of verse. Embracing the full range of English verse from ballads and lyric verse to love poems, epics and satires, this the one anthology for the whole family!
Has appreciations of favourite poems by leading columnists from The Times.
I first borrowed this book from the public library, but I show more decided very quickly that I must have a copy in my library, and bought this from Amazon within a week at a dramatically reduced price! It's supposed to be used/second-hand, but as far as I'm concerned it's brand new! show less

Well, okay, it's an easy book to pick up and put down. But I'm not really sure why it has been done as a book. In essence, it is a collection of anecdotes such as you would expect to find in Readers Digest or similar. Nothing wrong with them, but nothing that would justify the expense of a nice Folio Society edition. I'm pleased I got mine off Ebay!

A wonderful collection of English poems through the ages. However, the five star rating is given mainly for its influence on myself as it introduced me to English verse and the great poets.