Cornelia Otis Skinner is not given to taking herself—nor anyone else, for that matter—with undue seriousness. This new volume the same varied nature as Excuse It, Please!, is, if possible, even more entertaining. There is something here on the awkwardness of being a parent at a children’s party in the house of a strange neighbor, on the real value of English sports clothes, on the author’s struggles to master the sublimating exercises of Yoga, on the role of the wife entertaining the important “out of town buyer” and his spouse. There are parodies, indignations, enthusiasms, and quite a lot which can only be classified as nonsense—all of it as penetrating as it is amusing.

The tremendous success of Excuse It, Please! was not only the obvious destiny of the funniest book of the year, but also a tribute to the extraordinary personal popularity of Miss Skinner all over the country. She has that rarest of talents, an ability to bring to life situations which are common to us all, and in laughing at herself, to make us all laugh at ourselves. There is no laughter more enjoyable!