John Barry Humphries bol austrálsky komik, satirik a umelec, známy predovšetkým svojimi alter egami, ako je Dame Edna Everage a Sir Les Patterson. Jeho tvorba sa vyznačuje ostrou satirou a dadaistickým humorom, ktorým komentoval spoločenské a kultúrne javy. Okrem písania a herectva sa venoval aj maľbe a divadlu, čím dokázal svoju všestrannosť.
Barry Humphries's first novel. Mrs Petty is a famous housewife with a successful TV show. She is also Derek Pettyfer - fiftyish, cultured, set in his ways. His arrival at any party, however sophisticated, always provokes a discreet little frisson amongst the guests. But Derek is also lonely.
Barry Humphries has deliberately furnished his biographers with half-truths and fiction, but now he has written his own account of his life. He tells of his schooldays, his Australian adolescence, his indiscretions, his renunciations and his appetites.
Doran, Amanda-Jane, Punchlines - 150 years of humorous writing in Punch. London, HarperCollins, 1991. 26cm. XII, 371 pages. Original hardcover with dustjacket in protective mylar. Excellent, close to new condition with only minor signs of external wear. Includes work by authors / comedians such as: John Bentjemen / Mary Dunn / Graham Greene / Melvyn bragg / Stevie Smith / William Boyd / Robert Graves / etc.