April Fools, Lengthy Inscription by Compton Mackenzie
[Signed Presentation by Compton Mackenzie] Mackenzie, Compton. April Fools: A Comedy of Bad Manners. First American Edition. 1930. Book and dust jacket are both in good plus condition—page edges show light soiling, pages show mild discoloration due to age; jacket shows light fraying, mild soiling, and a chip to the spine. In the inscription, Mackenzie notes an error in the book related to book’s dedicatee, Raymond Savage. The inscription reads, “For Herbert M. Meyer, This book was really dedicated to P.G. Wodehouse, but by a mistake of my American publishers the above dedication has been inserted. I don’t even know Raymond Savage! Compton Mackenzie … August 20, 1930.” Laid in is a slip indicating that this was a review copy on which the book’s recipient has scrawled notes about the book.
Fiction from other eras does not always translate well to the present. Some we no longer consider worthy our time, particularly in the age of ever decreasing attention spans. British satirist Compton Mackenzie’s witty novels make the cut, particularly works like Sylvia Scarlett (adapted into an early Katharine Hepburn/Cary Grant vehicle directed by George Cukor). This sequel to Rich Relatives is perhaps overly long, but it is also timeless. Compton Mackenzie understood the ridiculousness in people, but how that does not necessarily conflict with their basic decency. The premise is not so far removed from that in the classic American sitcom Arrested Development, but set in an English country house rather than haut bourgeois Orange County.
“He was a hypochondriac, and when he began to talk about his nerves his wife knew it was time to stop grumbling at him, because he was capable of talking doggedly for half an hour about his symptoms when she implied the least criticism of his laziness.”
--Compton Mackenzie