The Folio Book of Comic Short Stories
by David Hughes (Editor)
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An anthology of 22 short comedic pieces, I picked this up on impulse at a UBS, because I'd never read any of the authors before (correction: I've read Wodehouse) and there were more than a couple names here that I'd often felt like I should have read, but hadn't; I was afraid they'd be weighty and, you know, deep. So here was my chance to read their work without a lot of emotional commitment.
Almost all of the stories here were excellent. As in any collection, there were a few clunkers: I found the ending of V.S. Pritchett's piece abrupt and nonsensical. Elizabeth Bowen's and Muriel Spark's pieces left me flat.
The really great stories out-weighed those though: Wilde's The Model Millionaire was my favorite of the book, with Saki's show more Byzantine Omelette and Robertson Davies' The Xerox in the Lost Room close behind. Oh, and A Piece of Pie by Damon Runyon had me laughing at the truly cunning ending. Stories by Dorothy Parker and James Thurber had more of an emotional edge; the humor from these stories came from a darker, cynical view.
All in all a truly excellent collection; I've already bought a collection of Saki's work based on what I've read here, and I'm looking forward to reading more by some of these authors. show less
Almost all of the stories here were excellent. As in any collection, there were a few clunkers: I found the ending of V.S. Pritchett's piece abrupt and nonsensical. Elizabeth Bowen's and Muriel Spark's pieces left me flat.
The really great stories out-weighed those though: Wilde's The Model Millionaire was my favorite of the book, with Saki's show more Byzantine Omelette and Robertson Davies' The Xerox in the Lost Room close behind. Oh, and A Piece of Pie by Damon Runyon had me laughing at the truly cunning ending. Stories by Dorothy Parker and James Thurber had more of an emotional edge; the humor from these stories came from a darker, cynical view.
All in all a truly excellent collection; I've already bought a collection of Saki's work based on what I've read here, and I'm looking forward to reading more by some of these authors. show less
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Folio Archives 329: Folio Book of Comic Short Stories 2005 in Folio Society Devotees (August 2024)
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Folio Book of Comic Short Stories
- Original title
- The Folio Book of Comic Short Stories
- Original publication date
- 2005
- Disambiguation notice
- Contents:
- Introduction
- The Lamplighter / Charles Dickens
- Relics of General Chassé / Anthony Trollope
- The Model Millionaire / Oscar Wilde
- Poisson d'Avril / Somerville and Ross
- Th... (show all)e Man Higher Up / O. Henry
- The Grey Parrot / W. W. Jacobs
- Bill, the Ventriloquial Rooster / Henry Lawson
- The Conjuror's Revenge / Stephen Leacock
- The Byzantine Omelette / Saki
- Buried Treasure / P. G. Wodehouse
- A Piece of Pie / Damon Runyon
- Homing Jane / Ben Travers
- The Bishop's Handkerchief / Richmal Crompton
- Dusk Before Fireworks / Dorothy Parker
- The Curb in the Sky / James Thurber
- Shoes / Elizabeth Bowen
- The Key to My Heart / V. S. Pritchett
- The Great Mammoth Story / Stella Gibbons
- Excursion in Reality / Evelyn Waugh
- The Xerox in the Lost Room / Robertson Davies
- The 2003 Claret / Kingsley Amis
- Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse / Muriel Spark
- Acknowledgements
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- Members
- 80
- Popularity
- 395,936
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.28)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ASINs
- 8
