Commercial: Backhanded book blurbs

What could be the first in an irregular series. From the New Mermaids edition of London Assurance:

Dion Boucicault was a witty, selfish and deceitful charmer, a bigamist, a profligate spendthrift and the other of dozens of successful plays, only a handful of which endure.

Imagine what might have been said had they really wanted to big him up. Boucicault is an intriguing character nevertheless, as you can discover from the programme notes of the revival of his play, opening at the National Theatre this week. To say that it is a mincing romp feature plum capes and even plummier vowels is to wholeheartedly recommend it, by the way.