The Laying on of Hands: Stories

Rating:
Summary: A Classic from a Master
Review: Alan Bennett is the classiest act in literature. His personal style--wry, self-effacing--shades his writing, which manages to be delicate, ironic, and hysterically funny all at once. The title story is destined to be a classic, and if you loved "The Clothes They Stood Up In," it's sure to be something you read and reread. It's genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, and it's quite astonishing how a seemingly lightweight take about the death of an ambisexual masseur can hone in on people's hopes and fears without ever becoming less than a breathtaking feat. The second, also more a novella than a shirt story, is less impressive but still very funny, sexy, and also sweet. The last is the least compelling--the prat of a protagonist makes it rough going--but this is the shortest of the lot by far. And the first take alone is well worth the price.