The score contains some attractive and witty songs, like "Cleopatra's a Strawb'ry Blonde," Geraldine's wry account of how Shakespeare would have to be updated to register with modern audiences.

David Allen is the latest winner of our travel writing competition for his wry account of a road trip to Abu Simbel in Egypt.

In 2008 he published Only in America, his wry account of the Bush, years and has written numerous articles for the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, Newsweek and other publications.

It's replete with anecdote and insight, though my own favourite on the shortlist was Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat (a sumptuous, wry and testy account of the first swathe of his musical career).

The Spectator described the book as "a witty, wry, elegiac account of his time as a Reuters and Sunday Times correspondent in Berlin throughout most of the 1980s.

Elsewhere, he ranges from a wry account of how a boy got his start in journalism to a story centering on a fancy-dress re-enactment of the 17th-century Battle of the Boyne.

"Tame Cat" is a wry account of how a teenage girl's sudden blossoming dramatically alters her relationship with both her mother and her friendly "uncle" John.

A Times columnist's thorough, smart and often wry account of American women's strides and the hurdles they still face.

Mantel, a distinguished English novelist and critic, bares her wounds - and her rage - in this wry and visceral account of a life permanently compromised by misdiagnosis and foolish medication.

"Big Riff and Mando" reflects life on the road for the relentlessly touring musicians, giving a wry account of the theft of Barre's prized mandolin by a starstruck fan.