Set between the wars in the chic upper-middle classes in and around London, A Handful Of Dust is full of horrible people doing horrible things to each other, but it adds up to a bitter indictment of human behaviour. And it's not all jokes. There's despair lurking beneath the brittle laughs, and sadness at the waste of potential. ... There's a plot point about reading Dickens that results in the darkest comedy, and perhaps a scathing statement about literature and civilization.Waugh is simply a brilliant writer. I don't think satire requires characters of much depth. But Waugh gives you enough details so you know everyone in this particular vanity fair. Their conversations are tart and suggestive, with people seldom saying what they're thinking.What's remarkable is that beneath the exaggeration, there's a brutal examination of the horrible things people are capable of doing--to themselves and each other.