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This was rather underwhelming. I've long loved 'The Monkey's Paw', but Jacobs's weird fiction is very much a minor strain in his work. Aside from 'The Monkey's Paw' and the less successful 'The Well', all the stories here are his benignly humorous tales of village life (which I found uncompelling) and of hapless sailors home from sea. These latter work better, but the overall set-up is usually that of the central characters' gullible foolishness being cheerfully and repeatedly exploited. The funniest lines are usually reserved to irrelevant prefatory asides from the narrators (Claybury's oldest villager, or the dockside night watchman), but it all feels rather dated and quaint. I might just have to find a dedicated volume of his weird tales.

Picasso's ok, but no Max Ernst, so it was lovely to read this unaffected and charming little book which manages to lay out exactly what was good about him. (I reckon it's likely the best book on Picasso ever). Also, a great book for kids who want to know what's exciting and wonderful about art.