Of All Things! (Common Reader Editions) [Paperback]

Robert Benchley (Author), Gluyas Williams (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2001

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Published in 1922 and 1921, respectively, these collections of Benchley's humorous essays feature his observations on daily life, ranging from marriage, business, and gardening to newspapers, opera, trout fishing, and even toothaches. The jokes no doubt are a bit dated, but human nature doesn't change that much.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

A brightly appealing collection of inimitable comic essays by a whimsical master of American humor. Originally published in 1921, Of All Things! and a companion volume, Love Conquers All, published in 1922 and also available now in a Common Reader Edition, were the first books by a true American original, one whose wry, befuddled, and gently exasperated outlook on life can never go out of date.

Product Details

• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Common Reader (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888173610
• ISBN-13: 978-1888173611
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,863,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Benchley never fails to please., November 17, 2004

By 

J. C. George "Compulsive Reader" (New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Of All Things! (Common Reader Editions) (Paperback)

This collection of Benchley's writings, appearing in magazines prior to 1920 or so, pleases the reader on several levels. There are articles whose humor hasn't faded in the 80 or more years since they were written such as "Coffee, Megg and Ilk," or "The Passing of the Orthodox Paradox," containing a nice parody of Oscar Wilde's plays. I think these are as funny to us as they were to the readers when they were written. There are others, such as "Lesson Number One," that tells about learning to drive at a time when an automobile was as exotic a possession as, say, a home computer in the early 1990s. These are funny in a different way, and I enjoyed reading them even though the things they laugh at are decades out of date.

Anyone who has suffered through learning to play bridge will enjoy "Not According to Hoyle," and those who sympathize with the record number of Americans finding it hard to pay all their bills will delight in "Turning Over a New Ledger Leaf." Those who read old literature will get a kick out of his pastiche of annotated Shakespeare in "Shakespeare Explained," and anybody who has read a novel in which the plot is advanced by letters exchanged between two viewpoint characters will laugh at "When Genius Remained Your Humble Servant."

All in all, an excellent collection of humor writings not available elsewhere.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Five stars for Benchley, two stars for this edition, June 6, 2009

By 

Hal Jordan "A reader" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Of All Things (1921) (Paperback)

I've loved Benchley since I stumbled on a collection of his short pieces in my father's library as a kid. Like any writer who turns out material in such volume, the pieces are a bit hit or miss, and they should definitely be read a few at a time, rather than straight through. But at his best, Benchley was both a hilarious writer and a keen observer of the passing parade. The fact that these pieces were written 90 or more years ago doesn't detract from enjoying them. In fact, some of the most dated piece are the best.

Unfortunately, this Kessinger reprint edition isn't of the highest quality. Here is their disclaimer from the front:

"Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to blurring of the original text, possible missing pages, missing text, dark backgrounds and other issues beyond our control."

Not too clear why these issues are beyond their control. In the case of this book, the main problem is that they have reprinted the original in reduced size. I have no idea why that would have been necessary. Every page has two-inch margins on each edge and type that is reduced in size to an extent that might cause a problem to anyone with vision difficulties. Otherwise, the reproduction is pretty good and I didn't detect any missing pages or missing text. As you can see, Kessinger has also replaced the original cover with a very nondescript one. One final problem is that my copy arrived a bit scuffed up. Whether that is a problem with Kessinger or with Amazon, I don't know.

So, if you like Benchley and don't otherwise have access to this book, buying this edition may be worth it. If Kessinger had done a better job of reprinting it, the book would have my unreserved recommendation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Garish on Benchley, November 30, 2011

By 

Gary W. Butterworth "Lifelong Learner" (Moorpark, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Of All Things (Paperback)

Length:: 2:41 Mins

What did comedy look like before Comedy Central?

It was kinder, gentler, and--yes--it was funny. One remaining artifact from the pre-Cable TV age is "Of All Things" by Robert Benchley.

Allow me, if you would, to explain in my video review of the book.