Auberon Waugh
It may seem whimsical or twee to say so, but I honestly do not think I have enjoyed any book this year so much as A Turbulent Decade: The Diaries of Auberon Waugh 1976-1985. All wisdom seems to be con- tained in those 207 pages, brilliantly illus- trated by the drawings of William Rushton. Perhaps the book is not quite so beautiful as Bruce Bernard's Vincent by himself, a lavish coffee-table compilation of Van Gogh's pictures and diaries. That would make a very good Christmas present, too.
In a year when most of the novels published seem to be rubbish, my prize goes to A Family Madness by Thomas Keneally, the study of a Byelorussian war criminal's family living in Australia. Prize for autobiography goes to Jackdaw Cake by Norman Lewis. The travel book I enjoyed most was So Far From God: A Journey to Central America by Patrick Marnham. Among studies of the Jewish community in South Africa at the end of the last century, I would judge my friend Geoffrey Wheatcroft's The Randlords as being probably among the more enter- taining.
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