NIGHT TABLE READING

SHERIDAN MORLEYauthor, Asking for Trouble

Brewer's Rogues, Villains & Eccentrics, by Willie Donaldson (Sterling). "Funniest book of the year, unless you count, albeit unintentionally, John Birt's memoirs. Unmissable and unbeatable."

ROY LIEBENTHAL restaurateur

Portrait of Picasso as a Young Man, by Norman Mailer (Atlantic Monthly Press). "One big ego taking on another, bigger ego—the game of New York."

MAURA MOYNIHANauthor, Yoga Hotel

The Search for Modern China, by Jonathan Spence (Norton). "I lived in India and Nepal, but China always seemed remote and unfathomable. This explains the transformation from medieval dynasty into industrial superpower."

DAVID COLLINSarchitect

Saki: The Complete Saki, by H. H. Munro (Penguin). "A short, sharp dip into the cruel, sardonic wit of a writer who in a couple of pages never tails to entertain us with humanity and its vanity."