The author is a retired academic who has had a life-long passion for opera and who has attended many performances at home and abroad. The book draws on his numerous and geographically diverse experiences. It contrasts opera-going in different, predominantly European, countries and over time, from the 1960s to the present day. It covers not only the obviously main themes—music, singers, productions, opera houses and their audiences; it also deals with peripheral matters such as the obtaining of tickets, operatic excursions, and "calamities" which may occur. It is anecdotal and personal, discursive, and amusing, but also informative. If you want to know more about the world of opera—what goes right and what goes wrong—you'll enjoy this.