Thurber: Writings and Drawings
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- ISBN13: 9781883011222
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Catbird Seat,” The Last Flower, Fables for Our Time, The Thirteen Clocks, My Life and Hard Times, and additional tales are included along with much of Thurber’s cartoon collection.Amazon.com Review
The shy Midwesterner James Thurber became a famed cartoonist and humor writer nearly, it seems, by manufacturing accident: Thurber in person was regularly depressed and self-conscious, darker strains that emerge fitfully in his sly, absurdist work. Garrison Keillor, a sunnier brand of Midwestern humorist, has assembled four longer works with many of Thurber’s drawings and fleeting pieces for the Library of America edition of Thurber’s selected works. Many of these cartoons and writings are now classics, and Thurber’s edgy, modernist humor–not to mention his usually bewildered protagonists–has influenced many of the best cartoonists today.
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I reflect the book is gorgeous and very well done.
Thurber was a fantastic writer and his works are worth reading.
I have a bit of personal interest in this, though since he was
my father’s 2nd cousin. Looking at Thurber’s photo in the book
is like looking at my brother’s face when he was a young man.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
This is brilliant for anyone who is a fan of Thurber. Print is of brilliant quality.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
My teacher gave me a list of essayists and said pick one and read ten of the leader’s essays. I am glad to say that Thurber was an brilliant choice and I laughed my way through this assignment.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
One should never confuse writing with a light touch for comic writing. Thurber expressed dislike for the word “humorist” and I can know why. When I read his writing, it is clear that the effect is proposed to talk about serious things, not weighty things, but with a light touch. He makes his point by putting on the coat and hat of a name and wearing it in a way that points out how ridiculous it is, after all.
For example, our age has been obsessed with sex for, well, the obsession sort of defines our age, right? Thurber’s first published work was with E. B. White on “Is Sex Necessary?” and basically mocks the discussions of sex by supposedly serious analysts. He refers to the problems between men a women as a product of pedastalism and that there were diversions made by women and men to distract them from their desire to get together. Men developed leisure activities and became devoted to sports, and women distracted men by building fudge. There are also early Thurber drawings that became such an effective part of his work and his fame.
This collection was place together by a very appropriate editor, Garrison Keillor. He has a wonderful ear for the kind of thing Thurber was after and has selected well. Most of the book contains selections, but there are four perfect works. And there is a rich sampling of Thurbers drawings. We get examples of Thurber’s writing over the 1920s through the 1950s. The collection has a fantastic sampling of his writing about the struggles between men and women, which was a wonderful topic for the times in which he wrote. But we also get his wonderful fables for our time and the well loved writings he wrote for children. But, unlike the jelly filled sweet pastries our time provides for children, these have more pain and severity. While they are not fairy tales such as the brothers Grimm, they do have similar bite.
If you don’t know James Thurber, you owe it to yourself to get to know his writing. First of all, it is fun to read and the cartoons a style unique to him. Second, while he is not as legendary now as he was, his work remains strong and an vital contribution to American letters. This is a fine collection and very much worth having.
The Chronology of Thurber’s life and the notes about sources and texts also make a levelheaded contribution to our enjoyment of the text and help us know some of the names and events that were reasonably topical at the time the piece was published, but have faded into the mists of time since then.
Delight in!
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
A Pleasure. Very smart – wonderful writer/artist. A very minor comment, I wish the pages were a bit thicker so the text from the under side of the page wouldn’t show through the drawings. Of course though then the book would be very thick. Enjoyable still.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5