Customer Reviews

Love Conquers All

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"Love Conquers All," by Robert Benchley, is a collection of 63 short humor that appeared in magazines prior to 1922. We have a handful of funny reviews of books that are probably no longer available (but you don't need to know about the book to laugh at the review) such as "Measure Your Mind," or "Those Dangerously Dynamic British Girls." There are a few parodies of opera plots, always a hard thing to do since opera plots are so fundamentally absurd anyway, but Benchley manages it nicely.

There are also a few pieces on how to watch various sports; "How to Watch a Chess Match," "Watching Baseball," and "The Score in the Stands" are all a trifle dated but still amuse. Students who go home for Christmas will understand "Home for the Holidays," even though it is quite out of date too; the humor endures even though many of the references are out of date (dress-studs?).

All in all, a wonderful book even though some of the humor is a little hard to get to.

Benchley's eye for the absurd rarely misses, and he offers an entertaining view of a "simpler" time.

"Love Conquers All" was an early reminder of the genius that was to come from the pen of Robert Benchley. At the advice of a numerologist Benchley would drop the middle initial from his byline on the promise of future success. No matter how you feel about numerology it was clear that Benchley did not need any added luck or karma. Admirers agree that he blazed an individual trail of intelligence in the fields of criticism and humor. Robert Benchley needs to have a renaissance. The exhibition of his movie shorts on Turner Classic Movies lately is a good step in that direction.

Although some of his work is dated, the writings of Robert Benchley are classic humor and should be included in the curriculum of every English class or creative writing class. He should not be forgotten. I bought this book on Kindle, and have been enjoying it very much.