
BOOKS OF ESSAYS
Preface
Who’s Who
Political Songs
An Oriental on Albert the Good
Epigrams
An Eminent Baconian
The Beauties of Badness
More Badness
A Mystery Solved
A lively assortment of essays, this work opens with a playful nod to the quirks of reading and the small absurdities that surface when we let curiosity run wild. The author, writing under a cheeky pseudonym, invites listeners to settle into a ten‑minute ritual before sleep, promising wit without pretension. The tone is conversational, as if a long‑time friend is sharing the oddities discovered in everyday books.
The centerpiece is a gentle satire on reference volumes—encyclopedias, directories, and the infamous Who’s Who. Through anecdotes of getting “sucked” into articles about obscure scholars or misadventures with biographical entries, the essays reveal how easily a brief glance can turn into an hour‑long indulgence. The writer muses on why we hoard trivial facts, suggesting a universal collector’s mania that makes even the most mundane details feel strangely compelling.
Interwoven with the humor are reflections on the nature of knowledge itself, hinting that the pursuit of information often leads us down delightful, unexpected corridors. Listeners will recognize their own habits of “just one more” page, finding comfort in the shared experience of getting lost in a library of the mind.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (317K characters)
Release date
2026-06-21
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

A vivid figure from 17th-century England, he moved from professional music into radical Quaker preaching and became memorable enough to appear in later plague-era storytelling. Very little of his own work survives, which only adds to the mystery around him.
View all books