Collected here, from a period of nearly five decades, are thirty-six of Norman Lewis's best articles. In each, his writing crackles with poker-faced wit and stylistic brilliance. As a witness to his times - the good, the bad and the absurd - he was unmatched, and his instinct for important events, and moments, was infallible.

His range here includes Ibizan fishermen, an interview with Castro's executioner, the genocide of the South American Indian tribes, a paean to Seville and his meeting with a tragic Ernest Hemingway. That meeting was 'a shattering experience,' Norman wrote to Ian Fleming who had commissioned him, 'of the kind likely to sabotage ambition.' Fortunately it didn't, and the articles assembled between these covers are compulsive, hilarious, tender and beautifully written, at times deeply upsetting and always unforgettable.