Little known in the US, Lord Berners, (1883-1950) was a composer, novelist, painter, and conspicuous asthete. Here is a delightful collection of short fiction by this quirky off-beat writer. With dark razor-sharp wit and spare distinctive prose, Berners offers us an unforgettable set of characters including Cleopatra, composer Emanuel Smith, (William Walton), Emmeline Pocock, who looked like a nymph in one of the less licentious pictures of Fragonar'. These short works are triumphs of dry irony and glorious absurdity.'