A DIALOGUE

Persons: Gilbert and Algernon. Scene: the drawing room of a house in Piccadilly, overlooking Green Park.

Algernon plays the piano; Gilbert reads a book.

Algernon: Gilbert my dear fellow, what is that book that has you so absorbed?

Gilbert: Oh, I’m just reading the latest from Christopher Crouch. Sorry, as I understand it, seeing anyone enjoy an author you thoroughly detest is torture.

Algernon: You like Crouch’s work? That’s fine, you’re perfectly entitled to bad taste. Although I find that getting angry at Christopher Crouch is rather like being enraged by a blank sheet of paper, what’s there to hate?