a survival manual for anyone who has

ever arisen with the conviction that only

by keeping his eyes tightly closed

throughout the day will he perhaps by-

pass the banana peels of fate, dodge the

hurtling anvils of idiocy, and skirt the

open manholes of mayhem--and thus

arrive home again to the safe harbor of

evening and insomnia. Roger Angell s

stratagem is laughter and style. His day

begins in the portentous manner of a

Jim Bishop biographee ("Angell clears

his throat. A thought is on the way to his

tongue. The mouth opens ") and

ends with the midnight discovery of a

Japanese sniper hiding in his pajamas

and the invention of the world s

lonuest nalindrome.