High life, low life Book

The greatness of the British wit and sense of humour is rarely a conversation that divides opinion. The impulse to play things down and cover for awkward emotions - expressed through self-deprecation and irony - is one its most dominant and endearing themes. I think a quote from the book by Basil Boothroyd sums up this British attitude wonderfully 'I always thought the worst thing about drowning was having to call "Help!" You must look such a fool.'

I was looking forward to giving this book the full-house, however, in what I assumed would be a precious collection, I was disappointed to see - alongside the valuable contributions of Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, and Stephen Fry - that Robbie Williams had made the cut. I know that may sound trivial, but I feel like it's not the only example of where quantity was favoured over quality. Having said that, it was, on the whole, an entertaining and enjoyable read.