WILL THIS DO?

Auberon Waugh leans heavily on letters from his past to re-create exactly what was written or said at the time of a particular event as he constructs this memoir of his first 50 years as a son, a student, a soldier, a husband, and a toiler on Fleet Street. Lovers of Evelyn Waugh will relish glimpses of him as a father, as well as insight into the family as a whole, but the real pleasure here is Auberon's own arch and funny style. David Case reads with his usual insouciance, too blasé even to get all the jokes, but the reader can tease them out and the effort is worth it. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 02/ JAN 03]