26 NOVEMBER 1994, Page 47

Jennifer Paterson

My favourite weird and wonderful book of the year is The Bachelors by Henri de Mon- therlant, translated by Terence Kilmartin (Quartet Encounters, £4.95). Really crazy account of impoverished aristocratic broth- ers holding their own — or not — through many misfortunes. Recommended to all for splendour. I always love Ferdinand Mount's books, and The Umbrella (Heine- mann, £9.99) is no exception. A charming little novella about the unfortunate Lord Aberdeen, written with Mr Mount's usual humour and eccentric detail. Food: An Oxford Anthology, edited by Brigid Allen (OUP, £17.99) has a lot of lovely stories going back to antiquity about people eating food. A gripping read from start to finish, for foodies or otherwise.