Books, Arts & Manners

Will This Do?: An Autobiography, by Auberon Waugh (Carroll & Graf, 288 pp., $24)

CHILD RAISING in the English upper class violates every principle of what Americans used to call “togetherness” and now call “parenting skills.” Exchanging affection and attention for alchemy, the happy few combine a perpetually choleric father and a mother detached to the point of somnambulism, add a sadistic headmaster, shake vigorously, and pour. To the horrified incredulity and cloaked envy of their American cousins, out comes a Winston Churchill.

About the Author

Florence King

Florence King was a contributing editor of National Review.

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Will This Do?: An Autobiography, by Auberon Waugh (Carroll & Graf, 288 pp., $24)

CHILD RAISING in the English upper class violates every principle of what Americans used to call “togetherness” and now call “parenting skills.” Exchanging affection and attention for alchemy, the happy few combine a perpetually choleric father and a mother detached to the point of somnambulism, add a sadistic headmaster, shake vigorously, and pour. To the horrified incredulity and cloaked envy of their American cousins, out comes a Winston Churchill.