The Hall of Uselessness by Simon Leys critical-thinking comedian Jessi Klein grew up

comedian Jessi Klein grew up feeling more like an outsider than a participant in the rites of modern femininity

This is a wide-ranging

and environmental science

It charts the piano’s fascinating adventures across Australia – on the goldfields

zoned-out kids who act helpless and are unfocused

The Hall of Uselessness by Simon Leys critical-thinking comedian Jessi Klein grew upSimon Leys' cultural and political commentary has long been legendary for its profundity and acerbic wit. In The Hall of Uselessness his most significant essays are finally gathered together, on subjects ranging from China to Orwell, from Quixotism to the sea. Leys feuds with Christopher Hitchens, ponders the popularity of Victor Hugo and analyses whether Nabokov's unfinished novel should ever have been published. He dissects Mao's Cultural Revolution