The Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie is a young curate in the Church of England who once accidentally appeared on Only Connect. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Oxford and a bachelor's degree in theology from the University of Cambridge. He is (according to his own taxonomy) a Bon Viveur first and foremost, with a soupcon of Roguishness and Prodigality. This is his first book.
'One of the best Christmas books of the past few years... both hilarious and unusually elegant in conception and execution.' * Marcus Berkmann, Spectator * 'Eye-popping tales of lunacy, debauchery and depravity...Butler-Gallie has done a splendid job presenting a smorgasbord of most peculiar parsons.' * Sebastian Shakespeare, <i>Daily Mail</i> * 'We have...always kept a special haven for oddballs in the Church of England, as Fergus Butler-Gallie demonstrates in this entertaining compendium...Their foibles cover all bases from absentmindedness to epic drunkenness...I'm glad I read this one. It's a lot of fun.' * <i>The Times</i> * 'Entertainingly erudite...But it is also a surprisingly profound work...For all its mischief, Butler-Gallie's work of lightly worn erudition is a paean to a great English institution, finely tuned to the temper of its representatives, good, bad and indifferent. We should treasure it more.' * <i>Literary Review</i> * 'A humorous compendium of some of the oddball clergy who have served the Church over the centuries...These thumbnail portraits reveal a very broad church indeed.' * <i>New Statesman</i> * 'The Church of England has produced some real oddballs in its time, and this is an entertaining gallop through several centuries' worth of them...Butler-Gallie has done his homework, digging out some rare gems...This is the story not just of eccentrics, but also of a leisured age that is no more.' * Harry Mount, <i>Spectator</i> * 'Wonderfully entertaining...A hilarious yet thoughtful reminder that the Christian faith wasn't always thought incompatible with a sense of humour or a healthy bolshiness.' * <i>Sunday Times</i> * 'It may have the makings of a modern classic...Butler-Gallie chronicles not just Anglican follies, but also human weaknesses which we all share and with which we can perhaps sympathise.' * <i>The Catholic Herald</i> * 'This is a ridiculously enjoyable book: funny, compassionate, and wonderfully well-written.' -- Tom Holland 'A delightful, sympathetic, humorous and earthed cocktail of quirky English clergy.' -- The Rt Revd David Wilbourne 'Fabulously enjoyable compendium of the Anglican Church's most eccentric ministers - who prove to be very eccentric indeed.' -- <i>Reader's Digest</i>