A V Laider

Max Beerbohm (1872 - 1956) was a British caricaturist and parodist. As a young man he was considered quite the wit and spent much time in London society. By 35 he was middle aged and a bit dull. Beerbohm was drama critic for the Saturday Review and later did broadcast radio work. A V Laider is an excellent example of leg pulling in literature. The reader is on the verge of horror when the narrator mockingly lets the reader down. The story is masterfully told from the gray arrival at the hotel to