THERE is something enchantingly British about the startling twist in the country's general-election campaign.
On another level, the protagonists are the city of Dublin and the River Liffey which flows enchantingly through the pages, "leaning with the sloothering slide of her, giddygaddy, grannyma, gossipaceous Anna Livia"—standing as representatives of the history of Ireland and, by extension, of all human history.
So it's very good to report that Izzard is in enchantingly frisky and confiding mood here, once this self-professed "action transvestite" has tossed aside the brolly and the bowler hat of his ironic John-Steed-from-The-Avengers get-up with a practised, red-nailed hand.
She wrote the novel in English, and matched its enchantingly oddball East End love affair between a young Chinese student and her ageing-hippie English lover with a touching and hilarious learner's quest for a second language of love in a "rainy old capitalism country".
Nothing happens but every detail is thoughtful and unobtrusive, the singing impassioned and enchantingly blended.
Contemporaries describe her as enchantingly silent and beautiful.
Anne Tyler's new novel, the enchantingly titled "Back When We Were Grownups" (Knopf; $25), begins, "Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person".
It is less emotionally powerful than the other works here, but no less enchantingly strange.
As slum children, Jamal and his friends are enchantingly beautiful, but the supersaturated color makes not just the kids but every surface and texture shine glamorously, including the piles of garbage that Jamal and his brother live among.
We lionized Robin Williams for the manic gleam in his performances; at his best, he was not only hilarious but also enchantingly frenzied.
All paths lead to lives of some sort, and that's all he requires, for every life promises a great deal and is replete with possibilities enchantingly fulfilled.
