Has nobody reviewed this yet or is it just so good that no words suffice? This is one of the very few books I've read that I would unhesitatingly recommend to other readers. It is so very funny in places and has an almost Inkheart ability to draw you into some scenes. I know the old boy can go off on one occasionally, Paracelsus for instance, but he has the marvellous ability of a know it all writer to go from one bit of showoffiness to another in a most charming and literate way.
It is such a shame that Davies is not up there with the more popular writers and it would be great to learn if his reputation is greater in Canada than it appears to be in the UK.