Oneof100BestEnglish-languageNovelsPublishedSince1923.No.34intheModernLibrary'sListof100BestNovels.AHandfulofDustisanovelbytheBritishwriterEvelynWaugh,firstpublishedin1934.Itisoftengroupedwiththeauthor'searly,satiricalcomicnovelsforwhichhebecamefamousinthepre-WorldWarIIyears.Setbetweenthewarsinthechicupper-middleclassesinandaroundLondon,AHandfulofDustisfullofhorriblepeopledoinghorriblethingstoeachother,butitaddsuptoabitterindictmentofhumanbehaviour.Andit'snotalljokes.There'sdespairlurkingbeneaththebrittlelaughs,andsadnessatthewasteofpotential...Thebook'sinitialcriticalreceptionwasmodest,butitwaspopularwiththepublicandhasneverbeenoutofprint.Intheyearssincepublicationthebook'sreputationhasgrown;itisgenerallyconsideredoneofWaugh'sbestworks,andhasmorethanoncefiguredonunofficiallistsofthe20thcentury'sbestnovels.