First edition -good

i like james thurber.
( )

This grew on me. I inevitably pick up a Thurber with great expectations due to the absolute genius hilarity of his, presumably self-written, back-cover 'biography'. It's a hard act to follow: an absolute cracker that never fails to leave me in tears of laughter, chock full of such deliciously absurd observations as "He has not worked as a cow-puncher, ranch-hand, stevedore, short-order cook, lumberjack, or preliminary prize fighter. Quick to arouse, he is very hard to quiet and people often just go away." You get the picture.

Thurber announces in introduction that he doesn't believe in over-working a composition/self-editing, preferring to let his writing flow. This technique clearly works extremely well in the very short context of the author blurb, but can become just a wee bit tiresome in the longer - although still reasonably bite-sized - chapters of 'reminiscence' (I put the word in quotation marks as the work is marked 'fiction' and, based on the 'biography' I would presume is merely loosely based on reality) which comprise this book.

My favourite sections are really the preface and end note, which, being reflections upon the work encompassed, presumably required a little more discipline than the author's usual style.

I wonder if I also compare this work with that of, for example, Garrison Keillor - a writer who is a self-avowed literary descendent from, and fervent admirer of, Thurber. Keillor's writing engages me on many more levels than that of Thurber through an intricate mix of pathos and slapstick. That said, Thurber's mildly fantastical and charmingly amusing wanderings are far from a bad way to pass the time. ( )

Deducted 1/2 star for being too short. Otherwise an excellent example of midcentury, midwestern humor excellently written.

This slim volumes reads as a collection of short essays about the early part of Thurber's life and his eccentric family. I won't go so far as to say they are laugh-out-loud funny, but they are very humorous. I'll be looking at his other works in the future with a much more open mind. ( )

I give this book a ten out of five stars. It's a hilarious raucous romp through Thurber's early life up to Armistice Day in 1918. I laughed so hard I cried. ( )