THE COMPLEAT FLEA by Brendan Lehane. 126 pages. Viking. $5.95.
Max Beerbohm, a self-described miniaturist, once devoted an essay to a minister who asked a single meek question of Dr. Johnson. But in this age of miniaturization, Brendan Lehane has gone the Incomparable Max one less. He has devoted an entire book to a subject even more insignificant than an 18th century clergyman—the flea.
A British journalist, Lehane became interested in the flea while in Dublin. The insects' concern was only skin-deep, but Lehane's soon reached the proportions of an idée fixe. In The Compleat...
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