Scoop

Why I read it: I'm pretty sure it was on several lists of "books that will make you laugh out loud," including this book I found at Goodwill for $1 that I've met many books through. I'll admit to a few chuckles, but it wasn't nonstop hilarity.

What it reminded me of: A very British version of A Confederacy of Dunces. I hesitate to compare the two, because Confederacy is one of my very favorites, and I wasn't that into Scoop, but my limited experience with comic writing shortens my scope. It has the same sort of silly caricatures of characters - my favorite was Mrs. Algernon Stitch, who manically drives around in this tiny black car that she gets stuck everywhere.

A brief plot summary: It's 1930s England, and the newspaper The Beast needs a war correspondent to cover a conflict in (fictional) Ishmaelia. They send their nature columnist, William Boot, instead of the John Boot who was recommended. A satire of journalism in that time, enriched by the fact that Evelyn Waugh was such a journalist.

Would I read it again?: Almost definitely not. It's one of the classics, and I'm glad to have experienced it, but it just didn't tickle me the way I was hoping.