I would have happily given Scoop by Evelyn Waugh a big fat 4 or maybe 4.5 stars if it wasn't for some openly offensive and racist language and observations he uses. It really did cast a shadow over the whole story, which otherwise rolled and rollicked around like the farce it was meant to be. Poking fun at Fleet Street, politicians, foreign policy, aristocracy and "country bumpkin" folk along the way, there was real charm to be enjoyed here and of course Waugh's prose is effortless but fully effective.

Some scenes required a bit more imagination than others, but the crucial twists centring around mistaken identity and a inexperienced journalist accidentally making the "scoop" of the year, are fondly woven into the plot naturally and simply. The characters and dialogue also carry this novella, and Waugh could have gone on to write a book about at least ten of the players caught up in this satire.

My favourite line... "To a journalist all countries are rich."