Autobiography of a Cad. [Modern fiction library series]

London : Macmillan and Co, 1951., 1951. Good. Modern Fiction Library edition ; 314 pp., 19 cm. ; Dewey: 823.91 ; OCLC: 58604324 ; First published, 1938 ; green cloth with brown spine label and gold lettering ; covers bowed, soiling to edges ; foxed ; an amusing romp with a posh pillar of pomposity that plays everyone for the fool, and apparently wins...; "hilarious mock memoir of the life and times of one Edward Fox-Ingleby. It ranges from his earliest memories of his father's Midlands estate, through Eton, Oxford, and the Great War, to his defining moment: his installation as a Tory minister in the 1930s. A rotter and a chancer of the first order, Fox-Ingleby will do anything to get what he wants—power, money, and of course, lashings of the fairer sex. His memoir, an attempt to legitimize his detestable life, is prone to bouts of grand prolix and riddled with misogyny, bigotry, and more than the odd sleight of hand. Turning a perpetually blind eye to his devious and malicious acts, Fox-Ingleby chooses instead to portray himself as a gentleman misunderstood. But this despicable cad is always just one step away from having his Machiavellian plots uncovered, making this a marvelous tale of seedy intrigue." ; G