Comedian of manners …

… In Praise of Barbara Pym. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

… Pym has always had champions among the discerning. She had her first revival when, in 1977, The Times Literary Supplement asked a number of prominent writers whom they considered the most underrated author of the century; she was the only writer to receive two votes (one from her friend the poet Philip Larkin). Suddenly her books sailed back into print. Her next novel, “Quartet in Autumn,” was shortlisted for the Booker Prize that year.