""My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel," said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; "in the meantime you must try and put up with me.""

So begins "The Open Window" one of Saki's most famous stories. Saki, born Hector Hugh Munroe, wrote about characters with, sometimes, a sadistic cruel streak in them. It was his way of commenting on the people of Edwardian times. In doing so, he has sometimes been considered more macabre than Kipling.

For instance, in "The Open Window," Mr. Nuttel is sent to the country to recuperate from a nervous breakdown. When he meets the young lady of this tale, she tells him a story about how her uncles died. When the uncles arrive at the house, the delicate Mr. Nuttel runs away in horror. In "The Schartz-Metterklume Method" a woman believes that children should learn history by acting them out, but the event she chooses is rather inappropriate for children. "The Storyteller" is about a young man so irritated by obnoxious children on train that he decides to keep them quiet by telling them a story. Unfortunately, the story does not have a happy ending. . . .

This anthology of anthologies contains H. H. Munro's excellent short stories, derived from a total of six compilations which were published over the course of twenty years. Containing all of his best regarded and famous short tales, as well as a sizeable host of hidden gems and lesser-known treasures, this gigantic compendium is comprehensive and certain to satisfy any fan of the author. The sensual, tantalising and distinctly moral nature of the stories usually rail against the stifling conventions of society - in the end, the natural world (and people acting naturally) tend to come out on top. The recognisable style with which Saki tells his tales make their endings, which are usually surprising and witty, a keynote feature of every story. Saki's ingrained wit and the casually biting nature of the topics he chooses often leads certain characters and the things they represent to ridicule, usually to the great satisfaction of the reader.

This anthology of anthologies contains H. H. Munro's excellent short stories, derived from a total of six compilations which were published over the course of twenty years. Containing all of his best regarded and famous short tales, as well as a sizeable host of hidden gems and lesser-known treasures, this gigantic compendium is comprehensive and certain to satisfy any fan of the author. The sensual, tantalising and distinctly moral nature of the stories usually rail against the stifling conventions of society - in the end, the natural world (and people acting naturally) tend to come out on top. The recognisable style with which Saki tells his tales make their endings, which are usually surprising and witty, a keynote feature of every story. Saki's ingrained wit and the casually biting nature of the topics he chooses often leads certain characters and the things they represent to ridicule, usually to the great satisfaction of the reader.

Francesca Bassington -- mother of The Unbearable Bassington -- was one of those women towards whom Fate appears to have the best intentions and never to carry them into practice. Fate had done her good service in providing her with Henry for a brother, but Francesca could well set the plaguy malice of the destiny that had given her Comus for a son. The boy was one of those untamable young lords of misrule . . . he was irresponsible and ungrateful -- the focus of his corner of British society. And what could be done with him. . . ? Send him off to the colonies, was what.

What we find frightening about this novel is the very premise: England has been subjugated and "annexed " by Germany . . . "When William Came," written before World War I, is a grim tale of a then-fictional war between Britain and Germany. Saki's biting wit is aimed squarely at British politics in this thinly veiled story -- he, like many others, could see war approaching, and who would want to see a conflict of such proportion? Unnerving stuff, we say. . . .

Saki was the pseudonym used by H.H. Munro (1870-1916), a British author and journalist who is best remembered for his short stories, which The Encyclopedia of Fantasy calls "witty, barbed and epigramatic." He wandered between the fanciful and the horrific, the urbane and the uncivilized with a grace that makes his work memoriable to all who have read it. The Happy Cat: Beasts, Super-Beasts, and Monsters is an expanded edition of his book of stories involving animals, and it includes one of his finest works, "Tobermory," in which a cat who had seen altogether too much scandal gains the power of speech. Other memoriable tales include "Laura," involving reincarnation and otters, and "The Story-Teller," in which the overly moral are devoured by wolves!

Saki was the pseudonym used by H.H. Munro (1870-1916), a British author and journalist who is best remembered for his short stories, which The Encyclopedia of Fantasy calls witty, barbed and epigramatic. He wandered between the fanciful and the horrific, the urbane and the uncivilized with a grace that makes his work memorable to all who have read it. The Happy Cat: Beasts, Super-Beasts, and Monsters is an expanded edition of his book of stories involving animals, and it includes one of his finest works, Tobermory, in which a cat who had seen altogether too much scandal gains the power of speech. Other memorable tales include Laura, involving reincarnation and otters, and The Story-Teller, in which the overly moral are devoured by wolves

"People may say what they like about the decay of Christianity; the religious system that produced green Chartreuse can never really die."
-- Saki

Saki was the pen name of British author Hector Hugh Munro, a witty, often macabre author who wrote an appreciative novel of the German conquest of England an then (in his forties, mind you ) signed up to die on the Belgian front during World War I. He's considered a master of the short story and is often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. His stories are generally short, and often memorable. If you haven't read him before, you're in for a treat.