Rating: 
Summary: The short story master
Review: Ah, Saki. I am currently purchasing my third copy of this Complete Works edition, and I highly doubt this will be the last. Saki is the sort of author where, once you identify a person who would appreciate his humor, it's impossible to keep yourself from going out and getting them a collection of his stories, or giving them your current copy and having to go out and buying a new one.
At his best (his short stories) he is cutting, incisive, yet just compassionate enough with his subjects to keep them human. Whether he is deconstructing turn-of-the-century English foibles in "Tobermory" (the most frequently anthologized of his short stories), where a cat learns to speak and proceeds to spill the secrets of all members of the previously uneventful dinner party, or simply building up to a plot-twist conclusion that leaves you shaking your head and laughing (as in "The Open Window"), each of his stories is a quick read that you'll probably find yourself re-reading soon afterwards.
His novels (also included here) are worth reading if you love the short stories, but don't have quite the same verve. "The Unbearable Bassington" is the strongest, and basically takes the archetypal Saki male lead (other examples being Reginald and Clovis Sangrail) and develops him over a full short novel - the moments of greatness that are frequent in his short story are a bit more spread out here, probably a natural consequence of the greater length.
And finally, we have his plays. These are, in comparison to his short stories, quite weak - the characters aren't memorable, the dialogue isn't credible, and the conclusions aren't surprising and/or satisfying. Their inclusion here seems to be more for completeness than anything else.
Overall, this is (as the title says) pretty much all the Saki you could ask for, except perhaps his Russian history book published still under his real name (H. H. Munro) - hardly a glaring omission. Read a few of his stories online and, if they catch your attention, this book will become your new nightstand companion.
Rating:
Summary: Was Saki the English O. Henry?
Review: H. H. Munro or Saki (his pseudonym) wrote short stories with ironic twists and surprise, much like O. Henry.You may have "The Open Window" in school, and there are so many, many more funny, tart and twisted little gems in this volume. The famous Sredni Vashtar, the Lumber Room and the Open Window are known to most readers. In Sredni Vashtar, a young, neglected and abused boy who lives with a relative gets his odd revenge (this is a recurring theme with Saki, who himself was raised by two aunts who "bellowed like mastodons across a primeval swamp" at each other when piqued.) "The Occasional Garden" is utterly delightful; here hapless ladies who lunch can one-up their snooty guests by subscribing to the Occasional Garden Club. For a few pounds a year, they can phone the club when The Envy of the Neighborhood is due to dine. A temporary garden, lush with pagodas, ponds and lemon groves is installed for the purpose of annoying any garden braggart. Of course, the club comes by to roll it right up when the guest leaves, and that can prove somewhat inconvenient. Or what about Quail Seed, where a painter and a few actor-friends conspire to help a friend increase trade at his suburban grocery. Ladies who only infrequently shop at this sleepy store can't tear themselves away when day after day, an exotic boy with blue-black hair and a bowl of beaten brass instead of a basket stops in to collect an order for wine, figs, the "best" Smyrna halvah and quail seed, ever more quail seed. What is the meaning of this mystery--you'll find out. There are so many more delicious morsels in this book. Reading each one is like unwrapping a chocolate bon-bon.
Rating:
Summary: A-Titter Over Saki's Timeless Wit
Review: If I could imagine Saki writing for the present day, he'd probably be a sitcom writer for 'Frasier'. Oh, to make jolly good fun of the nobility, the upper-class, the 'idle' rich, is a delectable, sinful treat you'd indulge in time and time again. And the veiled insults his characters heap onto its hapless victims? They are meant to be quoted, appraised, and collected -- like jewels for its gem-like execution. My favorite story would have to be the "The Schartz-Metterklume Method" -- everything else comes a very close second.
Rating: 
Summary: Edwardian British Humor
Review: Like many people who came from the upper-class, Hector Hugh Munro (pen-name Saki) was very "old school" right-wing and conservative in his political views, which would come under criticism in our more enlightened age. There's an underlying cruelty and lack of compassion and sympathy in his work, as these views and outlook of his influenced his literary work. But an author's work should be judged on the work itself, not on the man. Saki's great achievement is his short stories, which were published in a newspaper and then collected into volumes. He was enjoying his literary success when the First World War broke out. He enlisted immediately in 1914. In 1916, he was shot dead in the head by an enemy sniper while hiding in a shallow shell-hole or trench. It was this single sporadic shot in the dusk that silenced one of England's finest writers. Two more volumes of his stories were published posthumously. To appreciate Saki, one must apreciate witty, sophisticated humor and "old world" dialogue. This author is a master of dialogue, and his short stories (often very short) are full of upper-class types who are portrayed with a delicious malice as Saki shows us their follies, eloquence, and foibles. Wit, satire, and a sort of macabre humor are characteristic of this author's work. Wickedly amusing. You won't soon forget his characters, like the opinionated and divinely dressed Reginald, or the acid-tongued and refined Clovis. David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"
Rating:
Summary: Edwardian British Humor
Review: Like many people who came from the upper-class, Hector Hugh Munro (pen-name Saki) was very "old school" right-wing and conservative in his political views, which would come under criticism in our more enlightened age. There's an underlying cruelty and lack of compassion and sympathy in his work, as these views and outlook of his influenced his literary work. But an author's work should be judged on the work itself, not on the man. Saki's great achievement is his short stories, which were published in a newspaper and then collected into volumes. He was enjoying his literary success when the First World War broke out. He enlisted immediately in 1914. In 1916, he was shot dead in the head by an enemy sniper while hiding in a shallow shell-hole or trench. It was this single sporadic shot in the dusk that silenced one of England's finest writers. Two more volumes of his stories were published posthumously. To appreciate Saki, one must apreciate witty, sophisticated humor and "old world" dialogue. This author is a master of dialogue, and his short stories (often very short) are full of upper-class types who are portrayed with a delicious malice as Saki shows us their follies, eloquence, and foibles. Wit, satire, and a sort of macabre humor are characteristic of this author's work. Wickedly amusing. You won't soon forget his characters, like the opinionated and divinely dressed Reginald, or the acid-tongued and refined Clovis. David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"
Rating:
Summary: Perfectly Written, Mordantly Witty, Astonishing
Review: No one writes as Saki did. The only writers even vaguely similar are Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and such columnists as Russell Baker and Maureen Dowd. He is a true genius in compression, wild imagination, wicked humor. In virtually each line, there is a twist, an extraordinary turn of phrase. I imagine the Clovis and Reginald stories being read by John Gielgud or Rex Harrison in high dudgeon. His stories with surprise endings are simply better and more sophisticated than O. Henry. He is a true master of the extreme short story genre that he seems to have created (far superior to say, Bruce Jay Friedman whose work I do like). I haven't read A.J. Liebling or S.J. Perelman, but cannot imagine the exquisite touch of Saki. They are a true joy - each little story a gem of 3-7 pages. Have fun.
Rating:
Summary: witty, classic english prose
Review: One day i was reading something by Jorge Luis Borges (don't ask me what, i can't remember) and i came to some lines that informed me that Saki was "very amusing". That was all i needed: when Borges says something is good, it always is, i know that for a fact.
Rating:
Summary: Still fresh after 100 years!
Review: Saki (H.H. Munro, 1870-1916) is unique. His mise-en-scène is the world of P.G. Wodehouse, with its Edwardian country houses and formidable noblewomen. On the other hand, his septic view of human nature is closer to that of Ambrose Bierce, or Juvenal. His protagonists - not really heroes - are typically youthful scapegraces, idlers, and dandies. Self-absorbed and perverse, they may come to bad ends, like Comus Bassington. Despite, or perhaps because, of their character defects, they make gorgeous epigrammatic observations, worldly beyond their years, on human nature: "You needn't tell me that a man who doesn't love oysters and asparagus and good wine has got a soul, or a stomach either. He's simply got the instinct for being unhappy highly developed." "People may say what they like about the decay of Christianity; the religious system that produced green Chartreuse can never really die." "Waldo is the sort of person who would be immensely improved by death." Saki is politically incorrect. Like W.S. Gilbert, he lampooned suffragettes; this has led some to call him "misogynistic." His Jewish characters are not always portrayed in a flattering light; this has led some to call him "anti-Semitic." Earnest folk full of impractical good intentions for the uplift of humanity got the fullest dose of his venom. In "The Toys of Peace," children brought up by insufferably and sanctimoniously progressive parents who refuse to give them "warlike" playthings nonetheless improvise violent and destructive games. In "Filboid Studge" he describes a "health food" fad that succeeds wildly on the assumption that if it tastes disgusting, it must be good for you. Saki would have revelled in the gruesome irony of a recent news account about an "animal rights" protestor mauled at Yellowstone by a grizzly. He was no friend to the puritan, the do-gooder, and the reformer; critics accordingly tag him "reactionary." Bizarre scenarios abound. Pet hyænas, werewolf boys, riotous young women mistaken for newly-hired governesses, exploding babies, and other violent plots and twisted themes are related in spare narrative, often with absurdity at the end. Evelyn Waugh followed Saki's lead in such novels as "Black Mischief" and "A Handful of Dust." But if these Waugh novels might be described as resembling minor Mozart symphonies, Saki's tales are more like Scarlatti sonatas: short, dense with information, virtuosic, and perfect things of their kind. The taste for them is perhaps an acquired one, but it is easy to acquire.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked, Wicked man -
Review: Saki has more twists in his tales, and injects his stories with more wickedness and biting satire than any short story writer before or since him and is truly the master of succinct, and highly descriptive writing. He used a couple of wickedly engaging and attractive main characters for a couple of his collections - these were Clovis and Reginald. To illustrate their essential characters take this quote from 'The Innocence of the Reginald' the following discussion takes place when talking of a painting; "Youth," said the other, "Should suggest innocence." "But never act on the suggestion..." [replied Reginald] The stories are marvellously un-PC - written before the First World War and probably indictive of a lost age when the British roamed country houses for most the year visiting one another and being grand. Saki, with his wicked pen and sharp wit dissects them beautifully. As there are no stories much longer than a few pages you don't have to commit yourself to a great deal of reading, but once you start reading he is very hard to put down again.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best short story writers in the English Language
Review: Saki is good, you may not like his politics, but he is good. He is anti-altruistic, through and through, as he despises do gooders as self-serving and self-martyring and having no real good in mind. The "good" lays in good food, done by a good cook. Saki, interestingly, mocks futurism (the art form of Italian fascism) and Wagnerians and Nietzschians (the not unjustly adopted composer and unjustly misconstrued philosophical guru of the Nazis). He was also anti-suffragette and one of his stories is pathetic in his denounciations of them; but he was not misogynist as he has many smart female charaters in his stories. He is a joy to read, maybe the antithesis of Charles Dickens who one could claim is way too verbose and a dreamer on the virtues of strangers (although I like Dickens), Saki is concise and holds little value in the supposed goodness of strangers. One of the books one should read in their late teens. His novels are interesting and moderately entertaining but lack a sense of completion and posssibly nimbus a show at some limit to his depth. Of his plays only the last in the book was decent.
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