Kingsley Amis said of MacDonald "[He] is by any standards a better writer than Saul Bellow, only he writes thrillers and Bellow is a human-heart chap, so guess who wears the top-grade laurels?" How true; plaudits from academics only go to the most tiring writers. Forgotten are those who write what Graham Greene referred to as "entertainments." This is a great fireside book.

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