This meticulously researched spoof of the diary of a late seventeenth-century student in Oxford who kept a dodo in his room will be specially enjoyed by anyone who knows something about the culture that makes Oxford what it was then and is now. There is an Earnest Student, a Hooray Henry, Oxford commas, and actual historical people: Ashmole, Tradescant, Fell (he of the “I do not love thee, Dr Fell” epigram) and others. There is plenty for nerds too – printing technology of the time, font design, kerning, the ‘long s’, old maps of the city, even information about modern electrical pylons.

Follow along with the (un-named) diarist and his friends Mr Flay and Mr Sawyer as they get familiar with ‘Dodo’ and the bird’s behaviour; read the detailed commentary by the publishers of the diary as they explain the significance and the context of the recorded events; spot the in-jokes which will appeal to Oxford cognoscenti. Well played, Messrs Johnson and Atkins (eds)!

A short novel lampooning Richard Dawkins. Some good jokes, and a surprise ending. Good fun, unless you’re Richard Dawkins.