Dogsbody Papers: 2or, 1066 and All This

This delightful history of the apocryphal Dogsbody family begins with the discovery of the wheel by Ugg Dugg Budd in 15,000 B.C. and goes on to chronicle the doings of various branches, like the Somakunos in Greece, the Corcano in Italy and the Hundekorper in Germany. Along the way are parodies of Homer, Aristophanes, Chaucer, Pepys, Boswell, Longfellow, Dickens, Gilbert and Sullivan, even Ogden Nash. In addition to the spoofs, Parrott ( How to Become Ridiculously Well-Read in One Evening ) includes think-pieces on Marlowe as the author of Shakespeare's plays and the assassination of Lincoln as audience-participation theater. Delicious puns abound. The British contributors have done their jobs brilliantly and, while the collection may be caviar for the general, foot soldiers with the background to appreciate it will find the book a comedic classic. (Mar.)