Proust was a very keen observer - of himself and the events around him. The discrepancies between appearance and reality, the banalities that the upper echelons of society sometimes express, did not escape his notice, and he depicts them with amusement and fine irony, which occasionally caused him to burst into loud laughter when reading from his work. Proust is capable of self-irony. In addition to entertaining passages from Proust's main work, this small anthology also includes letters and poems that showcase the author’s witty and playful side.