made me cackle as I read (non fiction)

nessreader: theatre disasters told by a mordant journalist lots of Shakespeare anecdata

nessreader: they're like ultra short short stories

nessreader: biography in essays - originally comedy newspaper columns. she makes her family grotesques + lovable.

nessreader: crisp and bossy and utterly terrifying

nessreader: he's a snob and he has no idea of it. Long book, takes a while to accumulate its effect

nessreader: biography 70s England, lots of food nostalgia for people who also ate Bird's Angel Delight as a special treat

nessreader: intended as a practical guide for the am dram director; she is very black and white about how things should be, v vivid on body language etc

nessreader: no cliché escapes her - spot the authors she is pot-shotting (eddings, feist, lackey)

nessreader: mostly about early to mid 20th century crime genre (England) v witty phrasing

nessreader: extracts from hatchet reviews of books, plays, etc.