1934: A Handful of Dust
Author/Editor: Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh’s satirical novel about the pretentious and insipid world of the London aristocracy has been named as one of the best books of the twentieth century by both Time magazine and Modern Library. Chronicling the demise of the marriage between Tony and Brenda Last, A Handful of Dust depicts the English elite’s struggle to maintain their precarious place in society during the Great Depression.
The title of the book comes from a poem by T.S. Eliot:
“I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”
