The Wittiest Author Who Ever Lived, a Villain Who’s Evil Enough to be True and German Watch Drama

Our editors are a diverse lot, and are constantly perusing a long and broad list of publications. Fashion? Art? Architecture? Culinary studies? Semantics? It’s all here. In What We’re Reading, PaperCity shares the wealth.

Hector Hugh Munro. Do you know that name? If not, you should. Because he is perhaps the wittiest British author who ever lived. We know him as Saki, and his words are golden. Read this for some insight.

Nero, on the other hand: He’s well known, a villain, he murdered his own mother, and was notoriously depraved. But wait … is that the true story? The answer might be in art. Mary Beard reviews a few volumes on the man and the subject.

German watches. I love them. I bought a 1950s-era Glashütte in Prague earlier this summer, and I would love to have a timepiece from A. Lange & Söhne. But they’re not Swiss, are they? Well, not so fast.

War and art, bound forever, cause and effect, tragedy and horror and beautiful poetry and literature. W.G. Sebald‘s place in this is set. His work is that of a master. Here’s one take on that.

Google is all-knowing. It will tell you exactly what you will be eating, drinking, and wearing very soon. Do not resist.