Saki is the pen name of Hector Hugh Munro or H.H. Munro, a British writer known mostly for his short stories. His satirical political writing is where his pen name emerged. It is either a reference to a cupbearer in Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a collection of Persian poetry translated by Edward Fitzgerald, or a South American monkey. Saki is believed to have been a homosexual but managed to keep his sexual orientation a secret. Homosexuality was a crime in Britain at the time, and other famous British authors' careers were ruined because of it, most notably, Oscar Wilde, who was a big influence on Saki. At 43 years old, and well after his writing career had taken off, Saki volunteered to enlist during World War I. He demanded to be a soldier, and he refused to allow injury or illness to keep him from the battlefield. He was killed by a German sniper in November 1916. In The Unrest-Cure, Saki's recurring hero Clovis Sangrail, a clever, mischievous young man, overhears the complacent middle-aged Huddle complaining of his own addiction to routine and aversion to change. Huddle's friend makes the wry suggestion that he needs an "unrest-cure", to be performed, if possible, in the home. Clovis takes it upon himself to "help" the man and his sister by involving them in an invented outrage that will be a "blot on the twentieth century"... You can listen online to free English audiobook “The Unrest-Cure” by Saki on our website.
