Published in 1938, Scoop is a great example of social satire in the modern era.
(Blurb straight from Amy Peters, The Writer's Devotional)
"Waugh brought his biting wit to the social satire, Scoop. In it, a young London journalist, William Boot, is sent to cover a civil war in the fictional African country of Ishmaelia, when his editors at The Daily Beast (from which Tina Brown got the name for her online news site) mistake him for another novelist with the same name. While his inept editor dines on canapés and drinks sherry back in London, Boot, a nature writer, gamely tries to cover the events unfolding on the ground in Ishmaelia. Through a series of fortunate strokes, Boot is able to get the big scoop. But, upon returning to London, the credit for the news goes to the other novelist, and Boot returns to obscurity.
"Scoop demonstrates why Waugh is considered one of the greatest satirical writers of his generation."
Seeing as I had never even heard of this book before now, I have to say that I would like to read it. It's outside my normal comfort zone, but I'm okay with that. Life's all about taking chances, right?
Waugh is also known for comments such as saying Raymond Chandler's writing was essentially about drinking shots of whiskey, calling James Joyce a "lunatic," declaring Faulkner's writing "intolerably bad," as well as a variety of other strong opinions. That alone makes him someone I would like to read, just to see what he's like. (Not necessarily because I agree.)
"I think that Hemingway made real
discoveries about the use of language in his first novel,
The Sun Also Rises.
I admired the way he made drunk people talk."
---Evelyn Waugh
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