Henry Bernard Levin, CBE (London School of Economics, 1952) was described by the London daily The Times as "the most famous journalist of his day". As political correspondent of The Spectator under the pseudonym "Taper", he became "the father of the modern parliamentary sketch," as The Guardian's Simon Hoggart put it. He went on to work as the drama critic for The Daily Express and later The Daily Mail, and appeared regularly on the satirical BBC programme, That Was The Week That Was. He joined The Times as a columnist in 1970, almost immediately provoking controversy and lawsuits, and left when the paper was taken over by Rupert Murdoch.
Quite enjoyed about half the book before becoming irritated with old fogey comments and attitudes and assumption that reader shares his likes/dislikes etc. Got a bit fed up of Wagner. Was googling a lot to remind me of the issues he was referring to, fun to tickle the memory like this.
Not the best of Levin's columns; the previous collection I read (If You Want My Opinion, actually after this one in sequence) was better. Some of this stuff was perhaps to high-brow for me; still, as always, witty, urbane