PERSONAL PLEASURES by Rose Macaulay (Ecco...

PERSONAL PLEASURES by Rose Macaulay (Ecco Press: $9.95). In this collection of essays and sketches, the British satirical novelist argues that no delight is unalloyed: “How true it is that every pleasure has also its reverse side, in brief, its pain. Therefore, I have added to most of my pleasures the little flavor(s) of bitterness . . . which tang their sweetness, and mind us of their mortality and of our own, and that nothing in this word is perfect.” The private and not-so-private joys she celebrates often seem contradictory: believing and not believing; getting into bed, staying in bed and getting up. The most vivid sections, including a bittersweet contemplation of an album of old photographs, take the form of internalized dialogues. This cozy book offers the literary equivalent of comfort food.