Max

Beerbohm by Beerbohm

Non-fiction ~ article
First published in The Spectator, 31st January 1931
990 words
(First read 15/06/2014)

Benson sings the praises of the cartoonist, parodist, and essay-writer Max Beerbohm (1872-1956).
Curiously enough, the one aspect of Beerbohm's work EFB doesn't mention is that which he's certainly best remembered¹ for a hundred years later: his one-and-only novel Zuleika Dobson (1911).  Three or four years ago I realized one day that I'd never got round to reading this 'classic' of English light humorous fiction, so I read it.  O ye who p'ruse these lines! ~ I'm still recovering from the shock: I found it utterly utterly hateful ².
But anyway, you can read the article online here.


¹ Though to call it 'well-remembered' might be an exaggeration.
² I suppose really I ought to elaborate a bit on this ... but that would mean revisiting the novel ~ and I really did find it that bad.