Inside Benchley [Hardcover]

Robert Benchley (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (April 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884113027
• ISBN-13: 978-0884113027
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,642,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the best of Benchley, March 27, 2000

By 

"mr_nasty" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Benchley (Hardcover)

A must have volume of some of the best work by one of the funniest essayists of our time. Included in this work are such classic pieces as "The Social Life of the Newt"; His "Opera Synopses"; "Kiddie-Kar Travel" which comments sardonically on the pains of travelling by train when accompanied by children; and one of his funniest works, "Family Life in America", a hilarious send-up of the more depressing, naturalistic literature which had come to be commonplace in Benchley's day (and which may have been a bit of a rib to his friend Dorothy Parker). Several amusing Gluyas Williams sketches are also included in this volume. If you're a Benchley fan, it's a keeper - it's just a shame the book is so hard to find. Probably the most entertaining bit to me was a series of articles scattered throughout the book which were under the heading of "Fascinating Crimes," tongue-in-cheek stories meant to satirize sensationalistic magazine articles of the day. As a fan of great literature, I also enjoyed his imaginary "Correspondance with John Greenleaf Whittier" and his "Shakespeare Explained" in which he carries the system of footnotes, which are found in so many volumes of Shakespeare's work, to a ridiculous extreme. All in all, a very funny book.