A collection of humorous essays, accompanied by the author's own bizarre drawings, presenting Thurber's unremitting retort to the multitude of "self-help" books which were widespread in the 1930s and whose successors are still with us today.

"An authentic American genius . . . Mr. Thurber belongs in the great lines of American humorists that includes Mark Twain and Ring Lardner." — The Philadelphia InquirerJames Thurber's unique ability to convey the vagaries of life in a funny, witty, and often satirical way earned him accolades as one of the finest humorists of the twentieth century. A bestseller upon its initial publication in 1945, The Thurber Carnival captures the depth of his tal...

I have not actually known Thurber for sixty years, since he was only sixty-two on his last birthday, but the publishers of this volume felt that "sixty" would sound more effective than "sixty-two" in the title of an introduction to so large a book, a point which I was too tired to argue about.James Thurber was born on a night of wild portent and high wind in the year 1894, at 147 Parsons Avenue, Columbus, Ohio. The house, which is still standing, bears no tablet or plaque of any des...

In "My Life and Hard Times," James Thurber constructs a masterful blend of memoir and humor, meticulously weaving together anecdotes from his upbringing in Columbus, Ohio, during the early 20th century. The literary style is characterized by its vivid imagery, sharp wit, and whimsical narrative voice, making the mundane aspects of life resonate with comedic brilliance. As part of the American literary canon, the book reflects the early 20th-century shift towards personal narrative and absu...

"These tiny stories, in which a wide variety of animals show us how human we really are, are completely uproarious." — Saturday Review of Literature"These fables are as cogent and necessary today as they were before and after the Great War when Thurber's plainspoken, satiric fables provided a way to speak out in an era of political suspiciousness, false hopes, and mistrust. These fables are, indeed, for our time." —Michael J. Rosen, from the Introductio...

In "The Thurber Carnival," James Thurber masterfully weaves together a collection of his most beloved humorous essays, illustrations, and short stories, encapsulating the absurdities of everyday life in the early 20th century. This rich tapestry of wit and satire is characterized by Thurber's distinctive voice, where humor effortlessly mingles with poignant social commentary. The book is a reflection of the literary landscape of its time, drawing on the traditions of American humor while c...

From iconic American humorist James Thurber, a celebrated and poignant memoir about his years at The New Yorker with the magazine's unforgettable founder and longtime editor, Harold Ross"Extremely entertaining. . . . life at The New Yorker emerges as a lovely sort of pageant of lunacy, of practical jokes, of feuds and foibles. It is an affectionate picture of scamps playing their games around a man who, for all his brusqueness, loved them,...

The Thurber Carnival is a delightful and essential collection of stories, essays, fables, and cartoons from one of America's greatest humorists, James Thurber. Blending sharp wit, absurdity, and subtle insight, this anthology showcases Thurber’s unique ability to find the comic—and often poignant—undertones in everyday life. Drawn from various stages of his career, the pieces in this volume include some of Thurber’s most beloved works, such as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Catbird S...

The Classic Collection of James Thurber gathers four of the author’s most iconic works into one beautifully illustrated volume, celebrating the wit, imagination, and sharp social insight that made Thurber one of America’s most beloved humorists. At the heart of the collection is “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, the timeless story of an ordinary man who escapes the dullness of everyday life through extraordinary daydreams. Mitty’s richly comic fantasies, shifting from heroism to absurdity...

Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do (1929) is a brilliant satirical work that humorously dissects the popular psychological and social theories about sex, love, and human behavior prevalent in the early twentieth century. Written by E. B. White and James Thurber, the book adopts the tone of a mock scientific study, complete with absurd charts, invented terminology, and tongue-in-cheek definitions. Rather than offering genuine explanations, the authors parody the era's obsessi...

In Let Your Mind Alone! And Other More or Less Inspirational Pieces, James Thurber turns the rhetoric of self-improvement, popular psychology, business uplift, and "inspirational" counsel inside out. The collection's essays and sketches mimic the solemn assurances of advice literature only to expose its absurdities, false comforts, and mechanical optimism. Written in Thurber's unmistakably dry, elliptical, and deceptively conversational style, the book belongs to the great tradition of Ame...

“Don’t you think that things are getting better?” a woman asked me not long ago at a party.“Madam,” I replied, in my courtly, but slightly edged fashion, “things will take care of themselves. What I am interested in is people.”By people she thought that I meant persons, and she began rattling off facts and figures about sundry marriages and divorces of Hollywood celebrities and total strangers. In this dreary field of vital statistics I am not at home, and I began throwing fo...