Customer Reviews

Most of the Most of S.J. Perelman (Modern Library Humor and Wit)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most of the Most of S.J. Perelman (part of the Humor and Wit series of Modern Library) is a lengthy, though abridged, volume of the Perelman pieces from 1930 - 1958, many of which originally appeared in the New Yorker, among other magazines. This book should not necessarily be read straight through, as I did to my slight regret, as it can become a little overwhelming. There is some dating in the material but it is more of a delight how little effect time has taken on the comedy. The best pieces are, without a doubt, the marvelous Cloudland Revisited sequences where the author looks at books and movies he admired in his youth to see what horrible things time, experience and maturity have done to them. These selections are the treasures of the volume. A fine look at the almost lost art of a certain form of humour writing at its height. A wonderful volume to be savoured slowly.

This book has kept my spirits up over some very tough times. Each short essay is a gem of understated humor. Perelman's gift for making up names that make you laugh out loud -- especially if you know Yiddish -- is unparalleled.

This is a book to savor. Even the introduction and interstitial writing by the editor, Steve Martin, are hilarious.

Perelman is also an erudite humorist, throwing about deadly accurate references to the classics of American and European literature with abandon.

If it was worth lampooning between 1930 and 1958, Perelman lampoons it. The results have not aged badly.

Thanks, SJ, wherever you are.

It's the same book except it's missing treasures like "Dusk in Fierce Pajamas" (the Diana Vreeland parody). 5(000,000) stars for S.J.P. and 3 stars for the "editor".

I was pretty resistant to the charms of Perelman's prose in my early years, as I usually looked for writers who could give some hint as to life 's deeper meanings. Perelman I find at an age when I am perhaps a bit tired of finding deeper meanings, provides the kind of sheer amusement and escape that few other writers can. His vocabulary is extraordinary and delightful, and his sentences complicated artistic constructions which always seem to arrive at unpredictable and at times hilarious places.
This is a writer who simply delights in making all of mankind seem as if we are one big foible of fun.

Perelman isn't just a brilliant humor writer, he's a brilliant writer. I can't think of another wordsmith, except for Shakespeare, who has a better knack for finding the right word for the right occasion. Half the time, I don't get his esoteric references to New York social life of the 30s and 40s and 50s, but he manages to write his pieces in such a way that I still find it humorous. He is such a gifted writer that he could make a seminar on Social Security funnier than any sketch on Saturday Night Live. It's too bad contemporary Americans no longer appreciate the sort of wordplay, non-sequiturs, and witticisms that define Perelman's writing. At the same time, his work, except when he's writing about obscure New York City social life, still feels fresh and relevant.

Woody Allen said that reading Perelman was detrimental to a young writer because then your own work begins to mimic his. I don't see this as such a bad thing. If only more "humorists" were as funny as Perelman, there might really be a reason to watch sitcoms and spend money to see "comedies."

If you own, or have read The Most of S J Perelman, buying this compilation attributed to Steve Martin is a waste of time and money and effort. It's almost an exact duplicate of The Most of S J Perelman. Whoever put it together just left out The Acres and Pains items. How can they put this on the market as a new book. I waited a few months for it, but luckily, I had some one I could give it to, who hadn't a copy of the original. Save your money and look for the first one. Better all around

all you so familiar w/perelman read another review. this is for the uninitiated. buy it. try it. you won't regret it. you will then want seconds and move on as i will to what the other reviewers are wishing this one was. this book is a riot. hah!! laughed right out loud and had the people in the next booth at the restaurant get up and move to another booth. now that is what i want in humor. not some namby pamby wimpy what-the-heck-are-they-trying-to-convey junk one is so exposed to today. something you can grab a great big slice of and nearly choke on. this is a real feast. nearly my last as i was laughing so hard i thought i'd die. a real wordsmith as they say. i think they did say that and it is true. it is all true. every word of it.

Don't get me wrong, Sid's a five-star talent....but whose brain-damaged idea was it to reissue an abridged version of MOST OF, one of the great American works of humor & satire? Isn't it enough of a crime against humanity that so little Perelman is available as it is? You'd think a EXPANDED version -a two volume set, f'rinstance- would be more apropos, no? Steve Martin's a pleasant enough comedian, but having the author of CRUEL SHOES in as celebrity-editor is an innovation I'm a little leery of. Besides, why would the late (and sorely-missed) Perelman NEED an editor at this point? Herewith, my free advice to Modern Library: either reprint MOST OF in toto, or just collate ALL of Perelman's work in expensive bound volumes and charge the moon and sky for it. (I guarantee that anyone who would grudgingly buy this would spring for a more definitive omnibus edition.) Of course, as this IS Perelman, naturally it's great reading and a must-buy if you don't have the earlier edition. But don't further punish an audience of starving Perelmaniacs with any more 'editors' who feel compelled to edit!

I agree that it should be a capital crime to butcher Perelman's published works, but since I can't find an unabridged copy of "The Most of S. J. Perelman", this book does well enough. As the only thing removed was "Acres and Pains", and that CAN be purchased separately, I would strongly recommend this book.

My God, this may be the funniest book of the year--perhaps ofall time ... SJ Perelman is such a hilarious writer that reading himmay cause you to cough up buckets of your own blood. The nice part is, you'll be laughing so hard you won't even notice until the paramedics load you on to the strecher, your life essence leaking out of you, but the essence of humor continuing to pour into you from this wonderful, wonderful collection. Who better than Steve Martin to cherry pick the best of Perelman for us? Martin is one of the few, the proud who is truly fit for this task, since he is one of the only humorists in this country who can actually write. He is a worthy inheritor of the tradition begun last century by Perelman, Thurber, Benchley and a handful of others. They revolutionized literary humor, and they are still revolutionary today, particularly Perelman, who seemed to invent a new literary form with every other piece he wrote. There is only one Borges, but if there were a Borges of humor, it would have to be Perelman. Stop reading this review and grab the real thing before it lands where all humor books land: in the cutout bin.