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The Illustrated Christmas Cracker

For over forty years, John Julius Norwich has been sending out his Christmas Crackers – a personal collection of quirky quotes and literary odds and ends – to his friends instead of a Christmas card. In The Illustrated Christmas Cracker Quentin Blake has made his own selection of favourite pieces and has illustrated them in his own trademark style. From curious dictionary definitions (`Carphology. Delirious fumbling with the bedclothes,` Concise Oxford Dictionary) and tortuous palindromes (`Live dirt up a side-track carted is a putrid evil`) to eighteenth-century accounts of drunken pigs and Benjamin Franklin`s account of inventing bifocals, this cracker is stuffed with surprising, offbeat, often hilarious gems. Enlivened by Quentin Blake`s witty illustrations, this book is the perfect stocking-filler for the discerning customer.