Funny -- Mark Mason * Daily Mail * Bythell is having fun and it's infectious ... actually amusing -- Fiona Shepherd * Scotsman * Bythell has a good ear for the absurd and a mundane telemarketing call becomes comedy gold ... For all Bythell's self-flagellation, he comes across as a generous, largely genial figure. It is hard to go for more than a few pages without finding him cooking for staying guests or drinking with friends until the small hours. * The Times * All the ingredients for a gentle human comedy are here, as soothing as a bag of boiled sweets and just as tempting to dip into. * Literary Review * Written with caustic wit...a diverting and congenial read. * Bookmunch * Any reader finding this book in their stocking on Christmas morning should feel lucky ... contains plenty to amuse - an excellent diversion * Bookmunch * Crisp and often funny - and Bythell is canny enough to temper his pantomime misanthropy with bursts of sweetness -- Sam Leith * Guardian *