The Crow's Nest

A tiger reading in a cozy cave gives Clarence Day a comic way to compare book learning with direct experience. The opening fable contrasts different appetites for life and literature, including a preference for stories that soften uncomfortable facts. The Crow's Nest gathers essays on reading, medieval knights, money and familiar social habits, with illustrations by the author. In his discussion of knighthood, Day sets the noble image created by poets against accounts of rough treatment of merchants and peasants.

Another piece takes the form of an annual report from a league devoted to improving the lives of the rich. Its solemn concern for wealthy people makes their growing dependence on money look absurd. Readers interested in literary humor will find short arguments that start with recognizable habits and follow them toward surprising conclusions. Day's fables and mock reports give everyday preferences enough distance to make them easier to question.