Saki (author)



H.H. (Hector Hugh) Munro (1870-1916), better known by his pen name Saki, was a British writer of over 100 short stories, three novels (The Unbearable Bassington, When William Came, and The Westminster Alice), and three plays (The Death-Trap, Karl-Ludwig's Window, and The Watched Pot). Full of sarcasm, wit, and Black Comedy, the influence of Oscar Wilde shows through in his work&mdash;and he, in turn, is a major influence on writers like P. G. Wodehouse and Dorothy Parker.

His work has entered the public domain, so a little searching will make all his stories available.

Not to be confused with Japanese rice wine.


 * Adults Are Useless: "The Lumber-Room", "The Storyteller".
 * Alternate History: When William Came speculates on life in London after the Germans win World War I ("William" is Kaiser Wilhelm II).
 * Ambiguously Gay: Most of Saki's young male leads, particularly Clovis Sangrail and Reginald [last name never given].
 * Baleful Polymorph: "Ministers of Grace." It has overtones of Grand Theft Me, as politician's minds are put in animal bodies and angels take their place.
 * Blackmail: Several stories, including "Mrs. Packeltide's Tiger" and "The Treasure Ship".
 * Cats Are Superior: "The Achievement of the Cat".
 * Deadpan Snarker: In spades.
 * Ear Worm (in-universe): "Cousin Theresa", "The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope"
 * The Edwardian Era
 * Fractured Fairy Tale: A nice one in "The Storyteller".
 * Grande Dame: Plenty.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted horribly in "The Easter-Egg".
 * If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good for You: "Filboid Studge, or the Mouse That Helped"
 * It Will Never Catch On: "Cousin Teresa".
 * Kids Are Cruel: Quite a few, most notably in "The Strategist" and "The Penance" (as Disproportionate Retribution).
 * Kindhearted Cat Lover: Saki may well have been one in life, given the affectionate depictions of them in various stories.
 * Lost Him in a Card Game: "The Stake".
 * Mister Muffykins: The eponymous "Louis", with a twist.
 * My Beloved Smother: Several, though the most unpleasant example (in "Sredni Vashtar") is the protagonist's adult cousin and appointed guardian.
 * Our Werewolves Are Different: "Gabriel-Ernest".
 * Reincarnation: "Laura".
 * Royal Brat: The eponymous "Hyacinth", and Victor in "Morlvera".
 * Stylistic Suck: "Reginald's Rubiyat", "The Recessional".
 * Take That: The Westminster Alice is an Alice in Wonderland parody that takes potshots at the prominent politicans of the time.
 * Talking Animal: The eponymous housecat "Tobermory". Hilarity Ensues when it turns out Tobermory thinks Keeping Secrets Sucks and says so in no uncertain terms.
 * Values Dissonance: Anti-Semitism is treated as a joke in stories like "The Unrest-Cure" and "A Touch of Realism", and several stories (in particular "Hermann the Irascible-- A Story of the Great Weep") play up the idea that women's suffrage was just too ridiculous a concept to be taken seriously.
 * Uncatty Resemblance: Taken to an extreme in "The Remoulding of Groby Lington."
 * Upper Class Wit: Oh my yes.
 * Upper Class Twit: Some of these too.
 * World War I: The short story collection The Square Egg (published posthumously) were written during his service on the Western Front. Saki himself was killed in action in Beaumont-Hamel (probably during the Battle of the Somme).
 * You Can Keep Her: "The Disappearance of Crispina Umberleigh"-- to the point that the kidnappers demand ransom by threatening to return her.