The now classic tale of Archy the cockroach and Mehitabel the cat in her ninth life. First published in 1927, this free verse poem has become an essential part of American literature.
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Of all the literary genres, humor has the shortest shelf life--except for Archy and Mehitabel, that is. First published in 1916, it is a classic of American literature. Archy is a cockroach, inside whom resides the soul of a free-verse poet; he communicates with Don Marquis by leaping upon the keys of the columnist's typewriter. In poems of varying length, Archy pithily describes his wee world, the main fixture of which is Mehitabel, a devil-may-care alley cat.
Archy music will linger in your head long after you finish the book. Here's a tiny taste from his interview with a mummy:
"what ho
my regal leatherface says i
greetings
little scatter footed
scarab
says he"
Writers (particularly journalists) can go lifetimes without attaining such loose-limbed grace. And the illustrations by George Herriman ("Krazy Kat") provide the perfect counterpoint. On top of all that, Marquis did the impossible: he made a cockroach loveable.
Review
Collection of humorous stories by Don Marquis, originally published from 1916 in Marquis's newspaper columns "The Sun Dial" in the New York Evening Sun and "The Lantern" in the New York Herald Tribune and published in book form in 1927. The stories center on Archy, a philosophical cockroach who types messages to the author in lowercase letters (being unable to activate the shift mechanism), and Mehitabel, a free-spirited alley cat whose motto is "toujours gai." After initial publication, the work and its sequels were usually published without capital letters. Archy and Mehitabel consists mostly of free-verse poems on such concerns of Archy's as transmigration of souls, social injustice, life in New York City, and death. Sequels included Archys Life of Mehitabel (1933) and Archy Does His Part (1935), both of which were included in the lives and times of archy and mehitabel (1940; illustrated by George Herriman), a posthumously published compendium of the previous books. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Funny Little Book,
By A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com "What should ... (Glen Ellyn, IL USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Archy and Mehitabel (Paperback)
"Archy and Mehitabel" is a strange, funny little book. Drawing from the conversational poetry found in books like Edgar Lee Masters "Spoon River Anthology," Marquis uses a colloquial style which not only suits his characters, but works in a poem. Lots of laughs, some decent writing, and a tasty way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Talking animals are easy to find in literature. Good ones, like a cat and a cockroach of this caliber, are not. Marquis brings humanity by allowing his animals to stay animals. Spiders still are poisonous, rats are still threatening, and cockroaches have never been able to type the capital letters on a typewriter. Marquis pushes reality, keeping his characters grounded in truth (OK, he fudges with truth a lot, but don't let that stop you). While filled with humorous tales, moments are sad, like in the ninth poem, "freddy the rat perishes." Dear Freddy has a run in with a spider who is up to no good. In a valiant struggle, a tough South American spider ("raised on red pepper and blood" and "nursed on tabasco sauce") Freddy is killed while saving his friends. Freddy ate some poisoned cheese the night before and let the spider bite him, knowing he had nothing to lose. After it was over, Archy and Mehitabel dropped Freddy "off the fire escape into the alley with/military honors". Despite the whole premise being ridiculous, a tear might well up. Children will love being read the stories, and younger teens may find poetry readable (before you send them on to Keats and Byron!). Great, funny pictures, completely in the context of each poem-tale. I fully recommend this book. Anthony Trendl editor, HungarianBookstore.com
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
".....transmigration is the game...",
By yygsgsdrassil "yygsgsdrassil" (Crossroads America) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Archy and Mehitabel (Paperback)
metthinksthe vers libre of archy literate cockroach and mehitabel krazy kat s kouzin are amazing and amuzing good thing amazon.com has most of the cocroaches volume via marquis herriman s drawings captures just in ygsgs
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
when newspaper columns were poetry,
By DJ Rix (NJ USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Archy and Mehitabel (Paperback)
archy (or is it don marquis)is a greater poet than the critics admit think of e.e. cummings did he suffer so by diving headfirst on to the typewriter keys but he probably knew archy from some greenwich village coffeehouse amazing to think these poems were newspaper columns when a column meant a column straight down the inky newsprint archy's words staining fingers the newspaper column had a golden age alas it is gone poor archy and now i too have a headache
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The circumstances of Archy's first appearance are narrated in the following extract from the Sun Dial column of the New York Sun. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
warty bliggens, wotthehell wotthehell, mehitabel the cat, toujours gai, archy mehitabel, old dame New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The circumstances of Archy's first appearance are narrated in the following extract from the Sun Dial column of the New York Sun. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
warty bliggens, wotthehell wotthehell, mehitabel the cat, toujours gai, archy mehitabel, old dame New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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