What I'm Reading — Lump & the Lumpen

I'VE BEEN READING ABOUT NOBILITY AND ANIMALS. First,the nobility.

Lump was a young dachshund who hadn't quite found the right home when he visited Picasso in the south of France. He adopted Picasso  and moved into the Villa Californie immediately.

If you know dachshunds, you know that Lump found a home with everything a dachshund wants: a domain to reign over, animals to hunt, a dog or two to play with, and humans to adore and be adored by. When he was indoors, Lump was usually on someone's lap or in their arms: he sat on Picasso's lap at meals and ate from Picasso's plate (sometimes from a plate with his image). He never heard the word "no," according to the book.

If you know dachshunds, you know that there was no place Lump would rather be than in Picasso's arms, like the photo above. But oh, look, over there... A few ear rubs would get his attention back,though.

The beastie boys in Bill Buford's book love England, the Queen, beer, British football and what was called a biʔ oʔ bovver when I lived in England (that's “a bit of bother” with East London full glottal stops -- beating the crap out of others.) Buford gives us good descriptions of his fellow travelers, but he never gets into the origins of the working-class violence that used to serve the British Empire and the British Navy so well.

Why are British football matches so violent and American football games so tame? Buford doesn't say.

More photos here.