The Lynn Truss Treasury Lynn Truss Gotham Books 656 pp. ISBN: Available from Powell's Books.

The first novel, With One Lousy Free Packet of Seed, chronicles the bizarre goings-on associated with Come into the Garden, a horticultural magazine that has fallen on hard times. Of course, this is hardly surprising, given the magazine's staff, which includes Osborne, the somewhat bewildered author of the column "Me and My Shed"; Michelle, a formidable sub-editor with clandestine lascivious proclivities; Tim, an obsessive compulsive deputy editor; and Lillian, the world's worst secretary. By far the most memorable, however, is Makepeace: a scenery-chewing, diminutive, pathological liar, he always claims to have mailed his articles to editors before having actually written them, taking the "lost in the mail" story to its absurd extreme. Unbeknownst to most of its staff, the magazine is about to be subjected to a hostile takeover by a wealthy computer prodigy. In a comedy of errors and coincidences, the staff learns one by one of Come into the Garden's precarious predicament, and chaos ensues, along with much hilarity.

In the collection's second novel, Tennyson's Gift, Truss demonstrates her knowledge of the Victorian era. This period piece is set on the Isle of Wight, and features several historical figures, including poet Alfred Tennyson and the Rev. Charles Dodgson -- the latter better known by his pen name, Lewis Carroll. The novel revels in the eccentricities and oddities of Victorian artists and intellectuals: their interest in morbid poetry, the burgeoning craft of photography, and the discipline of phrenology (figuring out your personality and capabilities from the lumps on your head). Tennyson and Dodgson are playfully lampooned. Tennyson is myopic and has a massive ego; his wife tries to hide reviews of his work from him. Dodgson's social awkwardness and his fascination with children are non-stop target practice for Truss; the phrenologists have a field day with him, too -- his "organ of Philoprogenitiveness" is "considerably enlarged".

Going Loco, a "Comedy of Terrors", is about Belinda Johansson, an anxiety-ridden author. Her day job is writing children's books -- "horsy stories" -- but her real passion is a book about literary doubles. Her initial problem is with her nerves, which she depicts as a rat (named Neville) who resides in her stomach, doing acrobatics to make it churn. However, even when she sends Neville packing, her troubles have just begun. Her husband seems to have a secret identity -- a double life (sensing a pattern?). What's more, Belinda's new maid, Linda, seems interested in stealing her identity. Doppelgangers abound in this very funny tale.

While you can see aspects of the author's personality in all of her fiction, Truss's newspaper columns, collected in Making the Cat Laugh, paint the clearest picture: she's a single writer with a keen eye, a bit too much time on her hands and a very demanding cat. Despite the title, readers who aren't feline fanciers will have plenty to guffaw at; Truss turns her attention toward passive smoking, celibacy and a man who goes berserk and strangles a parrot (apparently this is against the law in England).

Truss's comic gifts blend highly literate wit and delightful absurdity, with a dollop of bawdiness to boot. While the Lynne Truss Treasury may add a little extra weight to your book bag, it's the perfect book to take along with you when you need a laugh.

-- Christian Carey

Gotham Books is another arm of the Penguin Books publishing mega-empire.