George Mikes
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George Mikes (1912–1987) was a Hungarian-born British author most famous for his commentaries on various countries. How to be an Alien poked gentle fun at the English, including a one-line chapter on sex: "Continental people have sex lives; the English have hot-water bottles." Subsequent books dealt with (among others) Japan (The Land of the Rising Yen), Israel (Milk and Honey, The Prophet Motive), the U.S. (How to Scrape Skies), and the United Nations (How to Unite Nations), Australia (Boomerang), the British again (How to be Inimitable, How to be Decadent), and South America (How to Tango). Other subjects include God (How to be God), his cat (Tsi-Tsa) and wealth (How to be Poor).
Mikes narrated a BBC television report of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[1]
[edit] Selected bibliography
- How to Be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and More Advanced Pupils (1946)
- How to Scrape Skies: The United States Explored, Rediscovered and Explained (1948)
- Wisdom for Others (1950)
- Milk and Honey: Israel Explored (1950)
- Shakespeare and Myself (1952)
- Uber Alles: Germany Explored (1953)
- Italy for Beginners (1956)
- How to Be Inimitable: Coming of Age in England (1960)
- How to Tango: A Solo Across South America (1961)
- Switzerland for Beginners (1962)
- How to Unite Nations (1963)
- Germany Laughs at Herself: German Cartoons Since 1848 (1965)
- Eureka!: Rummaging in Greece (1965)
- How to Be Affluent (1966)
- Boomerang: Australia Rediscovered (1968)
- The Prophet Motive: Israel Today and Tomorrow (1969)
- The Land of the Rising Yen: Japan (1970)
- Humour in Memoriam (1970)
- Any Souvenirs?: Central Europe Revisited (1971)
- How to Be Decadent (1977)
- Tsi-Tsa: The Biography of a Cat (1978)
- English Humour for Beginners (1980)
- How to Be Seventy: An Autobiography (1982)
- How to Be Poor (1983)
- How to Be a Guru (1984)
- How to Be God (1986)
- The Riches of the Poor: Who's WHO (1987)
[edit] Non-Fiction
- A Study in Infamy - The operations of the Hungarian Secret Police (AVO)" (1959)
