Woolf, Eliot, Lawrence, Huxley, Orwell, Green, Mailer and Updike are some of the luminaries providing commentary on the most turbulent events and political movements of the 20th century in this selection of essays. Topics also include the nature of memory, laughter, Siamese cats and bathrooms. Each essay has been selected (with two exceptions, which the editor does not reveal) for the quality of the writing.