A review by clerner215
The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St. Aubyn

4.0

The Patrick Melrose Novels are a splendid and sordid example of the next generation of Waugh's Vile Bodies who still feel cheated out of their Handful of Dust. Like Waugh, St. Aubyn knows his subjects and their world well. This book, which is a compilation of the first four novels, is so witty and honest that the repulsiveness of the characters is tolerable. It serves as validation for us in the 99% that being rich, or having been rich, can make you an awful person with a miserable life of navel-gazing. Yet that gaze provides some wonderful opportunities for self-deprecating one-liners, and Patrick Melrose is a master. I can't wait to read At Last, which is the final installment in the series.