OK, let's get the negative out of the way early, this book has not aged well. It contains dreadfully stereotyped representations of the people he meets as he travels between Cairo & Jerusalem, they and their surroundings are described with the fastidiousness of the English upper class at their very worst. None of it is complimentary and a lot of is, to modern ears, falling into offensive territory. The attitude of the serial seducer to women leaves a lot to be desired.
Having got that out of the way, this is a tale in 2 parts. The first is read by someone who sounds like a county solicitor or bank manager, staid family, respectable job, little to no excitement in his life. He comes into the receipt of the diary of mysterious Uncle Oswald, the aforesaid serial seducer. Reading the diaries he thinks they are amusingly written and tries to find extracts that could be publishable, what follows is presented as one of those extracts.
Oswald himself is probably on the OCD scale when it comes to cleanliness and dirt. The lengths of the description about a hair in his egg for breakfast is quite over the top., but sets the scene for his general behaviour. Oswald finds himself traveling across the desert when he stops at a petrol station and the attendant (with his habits and diseases duly described) find that the fan belt on the Lagonda is on its last legs. Oswald has no desire to stay in the attendant's house and is going to sleep in the car when a Rolls arrives and he finds himself invited back to a fantasy castle, occupied by a rich man. We meet his wife Y daughter, both beautiful, and Oswald plans to seduce either. What happens during his night of passion is best left to the imagination, as are his schemes to find out who he bedded. The final twist in the story felt, to me, a lot like getting his just desserts.
Writing - excellent, Oswald - what I would fervently hope to be an outmoded throwback. A compromise 2.5 stars. ( )

Humorous, witty with an unexpected punch line. ( )