Stephen Fry demonstrated he had talent to re-write classics in his very entertaining "The Stars' Tennis Balls," and his good friend and colleague Hugh Laurie proved that actors could in fact spell and punctuate in the competent and entertaining "The Gun Seller." Because of the two books I decided to read "The Hippopotamus," hoping to be entertained.The back of the cover reads: "Ted Wallace is an old, sour, womanising, cantankerous, whisky-sodden beast of a failed poet and drama critic, but he has his faults too." This is the best writing you will find in this book, which is to say there isn't any good writing in the book. It feels long and ponderous, and there really isn't a plot -- just a lot of that annoying British self-mockery that wears out its welcome by page 10.