It's the way he re-tells 'em

Just been avoiding productive work by flicking John Carey's "Pure Pleasure" in which he commends Clive James's "Unreliable Memoirs" for its redeeming warmth. He recounts the tale of the time when young Clive was a bus conductor on one of Sydney's busiest routes. "In the commuter-crush he unknowingly closes the automatic doors on the neck of an elderly lady about to board. Her head and hat, decorated with wax fruit, are inside the bus. Her body, gamely trotting to keep up and carrying a shopping bag in each hand, remains outside." It's the adverb "gamely" that cracks me up every time.