A beautifully jacketed hardcover selection of 53 darkly witty, whimsical, and macabre short stories by an acknowledged master of the form.
Saki's dazzling tales manage the remarkable feat of being anarchic and urbane at the same time. Studded with Wildean epigrams and featuring well-contrived plots and surprise endings, his stories gleefully skewer the pompous hypocrisies of upper class Edwardian society. But they go beyond mere satire, raising dark humor to extremes of entertaining outrageousness that have rarely since been matched. Saki's elegantly mischievous young heroes sow chaos in their wake without breaking a sweat, and are occasionally joined by werewolves, tigers, eavesdropping house pets, and casually murderous children. This selection includes such famous stories as Tobermory, The Open Window, Sredni Vashtar, Mrs. Packletide's Tiger, The Schartz-Metterklume Method, and many more.fromReginald,1904 Reginald's Choir Treat Reginald on Besetting Sins Reginald's Christmas Revel
fromReginald in Russia,1910 The Reticence of Lady Anne The Lost Sanjak Gabriel-Ernest The Soul of Laploshka The Bag The Baker's Dozen
fromThe Chronicles of Clovis, 1911 The Match-Maker Tobermory Mrs. Packletide's Tiger The Stampeding of Lady Bastable The Background Sredni Vashtar Adrian The Music on the Hill The Way to the Dairy The Talking-Out of Tarrington The Hounds of Fate
fromBeasts and Super-Beasts, 1914 The She-Wolf The Boar-Pig The Brogue The Hen The Open Window The Treasure-Ship The Lull The Romancers The Schartz-Metterklume Method The Seventh Pullet The Blind Spot Dusk Clovis on Parental Responsibilities A Holiday Task The Story-Teller The Lumber Room Fur On Approval