You have to be at least trilingual to appreciate it fully. ( )

For ten years, John Julius Norwich has sent out "Christmas Crackers": commonplace selections of prose and poetry to his friends at Christmas time. They are collected here in one volume: from contributors as diverse as Confucius and W.S. Gilbert, Samuel Pepys and Dorothy Parker, Alfred de Musset, Heine, Aeschylus. The excerpts are on subjects as varied as love, the longest palindrome, death, the Prince of Orange's woolen drawers, and the French, German and Russian versions of Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky". A very enjoyable casual read, which may send you searching your Library for more delicious poetry and prose treats. ( )