BEARDS

The author of Cleanliness and Godliness, that astounding report on sanitation, here pursues the details of pognotrophy. A confirmed Serendipitist, Reynolds investigates all possible bypaths in this subject, annotates and expostulates all bits of source material, writes of hippophagy along with barbers, bigots, shaving, famous beards, whiskers and mustaches, etc., etc. He finds romance and scandal, he wanders back to his first love -- sanitation -- , he manages an orderly, if erratic, history of the hairs of one's chin, and splits many a hair to include all his material. A fascinating, specialized piece of research where erudition is tempered with a brilliance of mind and style and the whole a tour de force of no mean ability. Choose a handpicked audience for this.