Seven Men and Two Others

by Max Beerbohm

The tales that make up Seven Men and Two Others start out as a set of "faux" memoirs set amid London literary life in the precious fin de siècle era and proceed into deliciously absurd fantasy. With a sense of fun, a hint of nostalgia, razor-sharp satire, and pitch-perfect parody, Beerbohm tugs at the affected nature of the whole literary scene—lamentable authors, wily agents, and preposterous weekend salons.

Seven Men (1919; enlarged edition as Seven Men, and Two Others, 1950)

Genres: Short Stories, Humor, Fiction, Classics, Literature, Fantasy, British Literature

233 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm, as "Max," known British writ, apparently wrote Caricatures of Twenty-five Gentlemen in 1896.

Henry Maximilian Beerbohm served as an English essayist, parodist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Bee...

Reviews

[Feliks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there any man alive today who can write at this level? No. This excruciatingly deft satirist puts our entire era to shame. For all our vainglory, nothing we have tops this. He is bold, outspoken, self-cutting, sensational, and profound all at once. You've never seen the beat of it. Beerbohm humiliates and humbles all the braggadocio of our foolish times with these astounding sketches. REMINDER: the proper study of man is man. Beerbohm adheres to it. Lift your dunderheads up from your jackass digital handheld gadgets. Nay...rip your eyes out even. You're a disgrace. We all are. Let us be chastened. Let us remember a time when we humans dwelt at agonized length about ourselves and the strange way we behave, a time when we all thought about how to be BETTER than what we are. Self-examination like this was once the noble and continual preoccupation of our otherwise ridiculous species. Our one saving grace is this ability for self-parody. This dusty, slender volume of satires from Beerbohm (a dusty, forgotten author) evokes all that. Reading it--you should be astounded. Or else, you are far too gone in your sterile, automated world. You've got toaster-ovens and refrigerators in your life, instead of real human beings. Read more Beerbohm!!!

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite ever example of fin de siècle literature, superior in my mind to Wilde, Firbank, Machen, even Saki...

'Enoch Soames' is probably the best pact-with-the-devil story ever written; 'Hilary Maltby and Stephen Braxton' is perhaps the best ghost story ever written, certainly the best involving bicycles; and 'Savonarola Brown' is the funniest and most accurate parody of a pseudo-Shakespeare play ever attempted...

The other stories are rather good too... 'A.V Laider' was the only minor disappointment; I was expecting the 'twist' ending to be more surprising than it was. But even so, the utter excellence of the whole is not marred.

I have read 'Enoch Soames' at least 4 times in different anthologies but this is the first time I have read the other stories.

This book was metafictional and postmodern before 'metafiction' and 'postmodernism' were even workable concepts. A delight and a privilege to read; and I am delighted and privileged to have just read it!

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first I've read of Beerbohm--I'd heard of him, but I didn't know much about him. I mistakenly thought that this was going to be a collection of caricatures--and in a sense, it might be--though I would not be able to say who Beerbohm's target was in any of these stories. Besides, I'd understood Beerbohm's M.O. to be parodying writing styles, and these are all of a kind--all from the same style which Beerbohm claims as his own.

Understated is the best word, I think, for these--I thought they were very humorous, but the kind of humor that hinges on a well-placed phrase rather than pratfalls. Very dry humor, but elevated--I can't think off-hand of anyone to compare him to, especially anyone close to being contemporary. After this, I'm looking forward to some of his other works, especially Zuleika Dobson

[Shamim E. Haque · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Max Beerbohm book that I have read. I must say that it was very entertaining. Today's readers may find the mannerism and sensibility that they come across in some of the stories quite dated and rather absurd. Still it is an enjoyable book. The two most delightful stories, to my mind, must be Enoch Soames and A.V. Laider. The next two are 'Maltby and Braxton' followed by 'Argallo and Ledgett'. The least enjoyable story was the last one: 'Savonarola' Brown. Walter Sickert and Sir William Rothenstein are present in the story Enoch Soames; this lends the story an interesting angle of realism depicting at the same time the circle in which Max Beerbohm moved during the latter part of the 19th century London. This particular story is almost a firsthand account of a world and society which had ceased to exist long ago.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 :)

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

One masterpiece after another populates this book. From Enoch Soames to Savonarola Brown.

[Richard Seltzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories were difficult to get into. But one I did, they felt like a verbose version of Somerset Maugham. Mildly enjoyable but forgettable.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd been meaning for a long time to read something by Beerbohm, and settled on these six comic tales of literary figures the author supposedly knew. After the first two, I decided that whoever called him "the incomparable Max" was wrong - the stories can in fact be compared, badly, to both Wodehouse and Saki. But it was worth plowing through to the last one, which had me cackling. It's called "'Savonarola' Brown," about an aspiring dramatist who spends a decade composing a Shakespeare-style tragedy set in Renaissance Italy and featuring not only Savonarola but Lucrezia Borgia, Leonardo da Vinci, St. Francis of Assisi, a couple of Medicis, Machiavelli and the Pope. The text of the play is included. I don't know if it's ever been staged for real, but if not, someone needs to produce it immediately.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very charming little book; beerbohm, as you might expect from a caricaturist, is really excellent at catching human complexity in a simple detail. some of the stories in here are better than others - the last, which contains a full verse drama, is ambitious but crucially weak - but the good ones are really good. wish this was in print so i could recommend it to people!

[Max O'Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a beautiful little collection of Men! the incomparable max proves himself with every sentence, incredible characterisations and the sweetest satire going.
these 9 men could well be the dream blunt rotation

[Sarah Hammett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Enoch Soames !

[Ken Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable literary adventure — literally people-reading!

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole, came off rather slight (although there was many an amusing moment scattered throughout).

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories are hit and miss. The last, about the playwrite and including his play, was meant to poke fun, but the play was so utterly dull that having to read it took any fun that might have been there out of things. Had the author considering allowing the narrator to interject or provide footnotes, the story might have been saved. I have to disagree with the author of the introduction and say that I preferred the humor of Zuleika Rodgers, maybe because it was sustained and part of one story throughout whereas these stories all seemed to end rather abruptly. Still a fun read, though.

[Larrycarlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Max Beerbohm creates memorable character studies of people he knew in the British theater world around 1900. Perhaps some of these people are imaginary.

[Darran Mclaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A witty, enjoyable read. I quite like the literature of this period. It reminds me a little of Saki, a little of GK Chesterton and a little of George Grossmith.

[Mary Bess]

the best collection of stories written in English

[laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty ludicrous book - each man silly and quirky. A nice, simple read, albeit somewhat boring from time to time.

[Victoria Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

After disliking Zuleika Dobson very much I tried this. Very original and funny stories, I particularly enjoyed the second one. Period piece.

[Alejandro Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

entretenido, me debía esta lectura desde aquella antología de Borges donde incluía Enoch soames.