'Tobermory' - the title story of this collection - is widely considered
one of Saki's finest pieces, in which a short-sighted dinner-party guest
introduces a talking cat to the diners, inadvertently revealing gossip
and pushing fickle characters into the limelight - in the process
undermining the common perceptions of grandiose and genteel high
society.
From some of his earliest successes, such as 'Gabriel-Ernest', 'The Bag'
and the Clovis stories, about a young man with an impish sense of
humour, to later tales such as 'The Boar-Pig', which is as bizarre as it
is hilarious, and 'The Toys of Peace', which he was never able to see in
print, this selection contains a wealth of well-known tales with vastly
different themes - from reincarnation to psychological warfare - and
bearing every trademark token of wit with which Saki has enthralled
generations of eager readers.