Complete and utter trite.

Avoid at all costs. ( )

Saki is one of those authors (like most, I believe) who are better taken in moderation. The Complete Works become wearing, though not entirely devoid of charm. One becomes steadily more aware of his woman-problem, however, whether it’s his opposition to Suffrage or his portrayal of women as shrill harpies or pure killjoys. I’m rather good at putting things like that aside, however: the man is dead, so he can’t profit from it, so I can put on my blinders and enjoy the brilliant, if rather empty, dialogue. ( )

There was a time when I thought this was pretty cool. Now that I'm older it dawns on me that HH Munro must have hated the human race. His stories are funny in the sense that you get an occasional clever quip, but his protagonists are terrible people you would never want to meet. Reginald, Clovis, and Comus are leeches, freeloading off society while somehow convincing themselves they are superior to everyone else. His antagonists are essentially guilty of nothing worse than being pompous. Pomposity may be bad, but it is not deserving the cruel mean-spirited viciousness they are subjected to. A single example would be 'Laura,' about a worthless bitch who deliberately destroys a man's hard work on his flower gardens and prize hens, all for spite, then is reincarnated so she can come back and do it again. Only in Saki's darker horror stories, of which there are few, does he show any evidence of sympathy for his characters. Not recommended unless you like smart-ass punk characters who deserve a good whacking. ( )

Saki, whose true name was Hector Hugh Munro, lived from 1870-1916. He took his pen name from The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam. The Scot was killed in action in WWI. In this collection of short stories, plays and short novels Saki writes about the British upper class and its frivolities. His heroes are Edwardian bad boys that defy convention. Saki _targets pretension and plain foolishness. This is an enjoyable and comprehensive collection. ( )

Some seriously wonderful short stories, snappily satirical and great fun (at least some of them) to read out loud). Great for dipping in and out of. I probably tried to read too much too fast, though; by the time I got to the novels I didn't really want any more at the moment, and will come back for those sometime later. ( )