Letters from London [Paperback]

He fares much better when musing over a small happenings or events. Somehow he sparks our interest and amusement in such unlikely subjects as Building Mazes or the First World Championship Chess Match Held in Great Britain. I think he is at his best and wittiest when discussing traits of his fellow Englishmen. In his letter "Froggy, Froggy" talking about the lack of understanding between the average Brit and the French cast of mind: "The bickering legacy of history is exacerbated on the British side by the poverty of geography. Britain has only France as its obvious neighbor, while France may divert itself with three other major cultures-Spain, Italy, and Germany. Beyond France's southern shore lies Africa; beyond Britain's northern shore lie the Faeroe Islands and many seals. Small wonder, then, that we think about the French much more than they think about us. The British are obsessed by the French, whereas the French are only intrigued by the British."

"Letters From London" can be enjoyed in small parcels, a letter at a time or read straight through. Highly pleasurable for anyone who is even a minor anglophile.

If you have never read a work by Mr. Barnes, this would be a great place to begin. I have read almost all of his work, and this series of articles or short stories are really tremendous. I don't know how writers feel about the topic, but it would seem to be more difficult to be constrained by actual events, than having the ability to let their imaginations fill their books. Mr. Barnes takes some topics that are truly mundane on the surface, and transforms them into extremely clever pieces.

One of the comments on the jacket commented the table of contents alone justified the price of the book. A bit of hyperbole perhaps, but they are clever and more often than not lead to subjects that are very distant from what a first glance may suggest. "MPTV" gives his take on how one of the older operating institutions of Democracy is changed when cameras put the MP'S on public display. "Britannia's New Bra Size" has nothing to do with undergarments, but is full of his unique wit on the peculiarities of British Bureaucracy and the imaginative ways it consumes years.

His pen strays From England to France, The United States, and the Nation's Leaders. He is even handed with his crisp wit, but he never sinks to levels lower than his subjects have generally sunk before him.

I also enjoy the writing and humor of Christopher Buckley. If you do as well you will enjoy Mr. Barnes. He is certainly a British Practitioner of the art of satire, and while I never have heard a satisfactory explanation of what "British Humor" is, this man excels at it.