And Even Now

by Max Beerbohm

Yesterday I found in a cupboard an old, small, battered portmanteau which, by the initials on it, I recognised as my own property. The lock appeared to have been forced. I dimly remembered having forced it myself, with a poker, in my hot youth, after some journey in which I had lost the key; and this act of violence was probably the reason why the trunk had so long ago ceased to travel. I unstrapped it, not without dust; it exhaled the faint scent of its long closure; it contained a tweed suit of Late Victorian pattern, some bills, some letters, a collar-stud, and—something which, after I had wondered for a moment or two what on earth it was, caused me suddenly to murmur, 'Down below, the sea rustled to and fro over the shingle.'

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Satire, 20th Century

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1921

About the author

Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm, as "Max," known British writ, apparently wrote Caricatures of Twenty-five Gentlemen in 1896.

Henry Maximilian Beerbohm served as an English essayist, parodist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Bee...

Reviews

[Graychin]

Max’s first collection of essays and articles was titled The Works of Max Beerbohm, which is just wonderful. This collection, published when he was middle-aged, is often considered his best. It is very good. Less biting, perhaps, than some of his earlier writing, it is still frequently hilarious while also being light-handedly thoughtful in the way that only a certain earned maturity can allow. I don’t know who to compare mid-career Max to, honestly, unless it’s to Charles Lamb. We enjoy in the music of Max’s language the same incredible fluency. We feel for his voice the same kind of personal attachment. Max is generally remembered as a caricaturist, a dandy, and (sometimes) a theater critic. He was also one of the best essay writers in English.

[Pamela]

Something different for me, a collection of essays. Max Beerbohm was soothing in his writing even though there was a biting quality at times. The essays were set in the first decade of 1900 England; there were many fresh observations, clever quips and insights into humanity.

[Lucy]

Some nuggets, but he went on a bit.

[Cheryl]

Read for the 'as witty as Twain but happier' essays, and the one more earnest piece.

[Lucy]

Fabulous collection of satirical essays. He's a brilliant caricaturist, even eliciting a remark by Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest.

[Avis Black]

Beerbohm is somewhat patchy, but his best essays are quite good.

[Mary Bess]

I read this book in order to read it again.

[Craig]

Joseph Epstein likes this book so I thought I'd try it.