Single Male, Going to Hell, Planning on Hitting Every Pleasurable Sin Along the Way. Seeks Dissolute Female to Share Driving, Chip In on Gas

A collection of witty and eccentric lonely hearts ads from the London Review of Books have been brought together for a new book. . . .

It features some of the most brilliant and often absurd ads from what's been billed as the world's funniest - and most erudite - lonely-hearts column.

Here's a selection of the funniest . . . :

'I've divorced better men than you. And worn more expensive shoes than these. So don't think placing this ad is the biggest comedown I've ever had to make. Sensitive F, 34.'

'Not everyone appearing in this column is a deranged cross-dressing sociopath. Let me know if you find one and I'll strangle him with my bra. Man, 56.'

'Bald, short, fat and ugly male, 53, seeks short-sighted woman with tremendous sexual appetite.'

'My ideal woman is a man. Sorry, mother.'

'Slut in the kitchen, chef in the bedroom. Woman with mixed priorities, 37, seeks man who can toss a good salad.'

Mmm, tossed salad. No, wait: Sexually, that means something else doesn't it? That's what the kids call "rimming." Mmm, rimming.