“They are blessed with a vivacity and rumbustiousness that eclipses the lives of those around them.”

“Despite the outward rumbustiousness of several of his large-scale works, there was a profoundly reflective side to Bliss, partly deepened by the war, partly inbuilt.”

“The pale, bloodless guardians of the English novel, so the argument went, simply couldn't cope with his comedy, his rumbustiousness, his Jewishness, his pungent, balls-out assaults on good taste.”