My World And Welcome To It [Audio Cassette]

James Thurber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1983

James Thurber reported the world as he saw it. But what a world! Only Thurber could picture a seal peering nearsightedly over a headboard or a former husband crouched atop the armoire.

Titles in this selection, all vintage Thurber, hint at the range of his whimsy and include "Courtship Through the Ages," "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," "Interview with a Lemming" and "You Know How the French Are."

"Few writers have re-created daydreams and nightmares as Thurber re-creates them. He manages, somehow, to pin them while the nerve filaments are alive and wriggling...." (The New York Times)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I preferred Thurber as a humorist to Mark Twain."
(E.B. White )

"These are brilliant sketches."
(The New York Times Book Review )

"Thurber is incomparable." (Christian Science Monitor ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

7 1-hour cassettes

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Books on Tape, Inc. (November 1, 1983)
• ISBN-10: 0736606777
• ISBN-13: 978-0736606776
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,821,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( T ) > Thurber, James

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Minor Collection by a Great American Humorist, July 21, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My World-and Welcome to It (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

James Thurber is justly famous as one of 20th Century America's most astute humourists--but MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT does not really display the author to his best advantage. Even so, it does contain a few gems that make purchase of this title necessary to Thurber fans.

The showpiece of this collection is the famous but somewhat over-rated "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," but MY WORLD also includes a number of seldom anthologized pieces that show Thurber's wit at a high-water mark, including "The Whip-Poor-Will," "A Friend to Alexander," and "The MacBeth Murder Mystery." It also includes several examples of Thurber's acid perspective on the battle of the sexes, such as "Death in the Zoo," and several memorable examples of his ability to wring laughter from the perfidies of language, such as "What Do You Mean, It 'Was' Brilling?" and "Here Lies Miss Gorby."

But the bulk of MY WORLD consists of much less focused material that Thurber casually produced for THE NEW YORKER--pieces which are mildly humorous examinations of everything from French guidebooks to 19th century copies of the English magazine PUNCH. Thurber's clever prose lends such pieces considerable charm, but they are decidedly minor works when compaired with the side-splitting classics found in other collections. Thurber fans, of course, will be delighted by most of it, but newcomers would likely be happier with such collections as A THURBER CARNIVAL.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Constant Companion, April 6, 2000

By 

Sarah Robinson (New York City, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My World-and Welcome to It (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

This collection of short essays and stories is marvellous. I have carried it with me on every trip I have taken since I first read it. I have my grandfather's copy, which has been on a longtime loan (say, ten years...) I am fondest of the essays, which range from clever little tirades against the Telephone Company and the Motor Vehicle Bureau to accounts and commentaries on Thurber's travels in France and Italy. It is really a wonderful wonderful book, very funny and acute. Please read it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very fun to read Thurber, September 18, 2007

By 

S. Sonsteby (Maui) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My World-and Welcome to It (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

Thurber is always fun and funny to read. Thurber fans need to add this book to their collections.