Selected Stories of Saki

A beautifully jacketed hardcover selection of 53 darkly witty, whimsical, and macabre short stories by an acknowledged master of the form.

Saki's dazzling tales manage the remarkable feat of being anarchic and urbane at the same time. Studded with Wildean epigrams and featuring well-contrived plots and surprise endings, his stories gleefully skewer the pompous hypocrisies of upper class Edwardian society. But they go beyond mere satire, raising dark humor to extremes of entertaining outrageousness that have rarely since been matched. Saki's elegantly mischievous young heroes sow chaos in their wake without breaking a sweat, and are occasionally joined by werewolves, tigers, eavesdropping house pets, and casually murderous children. This selection includes such famous stories as "Tobermory," "The Open Window," "Sredni Vashtar," "Mrs. Packletide's Tiger," "The Schartz-Metterklume Method," and many more.

Saki is the pen name of Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916), also known as H. H. Munro, who was born in Burma to a British officer and sent to live with relatives in England at age two after the death of his mother. After working as a foreign correspondent for The Morning Post in the Balkans, Russia, and Paris, Munro settled in London in 1908 and began publishing the short stories and sketches for which he is remembered. Munro was 43 years old when the First World War began, and although he was beyond the age of conscription, and although he was offered an officer’s commission, he chose to join the army as an ordinary trooper. He was killed in France by a German sniper at the age of 46.

from Reginald, 1904
Reginald's Choir Treat
Reginald on Besetting Sins
Reginald's Christmas Revel
 
from Reginald in Russia, 1910
The Reticence of Lady Anne
The Lost Sanjak
Gabriel-Ernest
The Soul of Laploshka
The Bag
The Baker's Dozen

from The Chronicles of Clovis, 1911
The Match-Maker
Tobermory
Mrs. Packletide's Tiger
The Stampeding of Lady Bastable
The Background
Sredni Vashtar
Adrian
The Music on the Hill
The Way to the Dairy
The Talking-Out of Tarrington
The Hounds of Fate

from Beasts and Super-Beasts, 1914
The She-Wolf
The Boar-Pig
The Brogue
The Hen
The Open Window
The Treasure-Ship
The Lull
The Romancers
The Schartz-Metterklume Method
The Seventh Pullet
The Blind Spot
Dusk
Clovis on Parental Responsibilities
A Holiday Task
The Story-Teller
The Lumber Room
Fur
On Approval
 
from The Toys of Peace, 1919
The Toys of Peace
Louise
Tea
The Disappearance of Crispina Umberleigh
The Wolves of Cernogratz
The Guests
Bertie's Christmas Eve
Mark
The Mappined Life
Fate
The Bull
Shock Tactics
The Seven Cream Jugs
The Occasional Garden

from The Square Egg, 1924
The Square Egg