Book 422

Vile Bodies, by Evelyn Waugh, 1930.

I have read this book probably at least five times since I had first discovered it.  The first time, I remember being quite open-mouthed with shock at the casual references to death and debauchery.  The second time, I was struck by the humor.  Every time since then, I've read something new into this novel.  This last time I've read it, as someone who is closer to the older generation portrayed in this book than the Bright Young Things, I wondered whether Waugh was a Bright Young Thing or of the older generation.  Certainly he is liberal with his skewering, but there does seem to be an underlying fondness of the author for his characters.