When the Going Was Good

When The Going Was Good presents five long excerpts from the four travel books Evelyn Waugh wrote between 1929 and 1935, chosen by the author. Starting with a tour of Mediterranean pleasure dens, Waugh pushes on to Abyssinia (where he reports indelibly on the coronation of Haile Selassie), across the continent of South Africa, to the wilds of Brazil and British Guiana, and back to Abyssinia in the wake of the Italian invasion.

Although he s best known for Brideshead Revisited, his melancholy look back at the twilight of the English aristocracy, it's Evelyn Waugh s genius for satire that truly distinguishes him. His acid wit and relentless drive to uncover hypocrisy and pretension make him a writer whose sweet way with words is equally matched by his powerful, almost bitter satires of modern culture.