A Talent to Annoy: Essays, Articles and Reviews, 1929-68 - Softcover

When she died in 1968, the British author was as renowned for her elegant, witty, penetrating journalism as for her acclaimed novels and biographies. Mitford's distinctive voice makes this collection of essays, articles and reviews no less lively than when they originally appeared. Explaining speech patterns that mark her countrymen as U (upper class) and Non-U in "The English Aristocracy," this deadpan piece evoked world-wide response in 1955. In a different vein, Mitford conveys compassion for doomed Arctic explorer Scott and his men, as she observes the 50th anniversary of their deaths in 1962. There are inimitable essays on her friend Evelyn Waugh and other personages she believed unjustly maligned. Excerpts from Mitford's personal correspondence add to the appeal of this collection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.