The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Creative Short Stories) [Library Binding]

James Thurber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2008 | Series: Creative Short Stories

James Thurber is universally admired for his hilarious sense of humour, off-beat imagination, and unique take on the world around him. "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty", in which a young man's fantasies have a much more powerful hold on him than reality, is probably his best-known prose work but this selection also contains wonderfully entertaining essays, poetry and cartoons gathered from all of Thurber's collections. Poking fun at his own weaknesses and those of other people (and dogs) - the English teacher who looked only at figures of speech, the Airedale who refused to include him in the family, the botany lecturer who despaired of him totally - James Thurber is essential reading for everyone who loves to laugh.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The American cartoonist and author James Thurber (1894-1961) is considered one of America's greatest 20th-century humorists. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Thurber worked for the United States Department of State and then worked in France for the French edition of the 'Chicago Tribune'. He moved to New York City in 1926 and worked as a reporter for the Evening Post. In 1927 Thurber became staff writer and managing editor of 'The New Yorker'. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Creative Education (January 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583415866
• ISBN-13: 978-1583415863
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #575,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is the best book i have ever read., January 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Creative Classic Series) (Library Binding)

Anyone you buy it for will absolutly love it.
Children, teenagers, and even adults should read this book.
It makes you want to jump in to one of Walter's day dreams the moment you read it.
Thurber really out did him self.
I have to say it is one of the funniest books i have ever read.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, and Humorous, January 13, 2004

By 

Joshua Karp (Norfolk, VA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Creative Classic Series) (Library Binding)

In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber gives us something much more important than laughs: he gives us a brief but penetrating glance at human nature. The story focuses on Walter Mitty, an ordinary man, with the habit of daydreaming. Walter will simply forget anyone around him and become someone else; a navy pilot, a surgeon, a suspect for murder, a World War II pilot. In these dreams, he is always the hero, a character of bravery and valiance. In real life his wife often interrupts these fantasies, and he resents her for this. His wife, on the other hand, thinks that he may be ill, as he tends to drift off. She sees his fantasies as a failing on his part, while he uses them to escape reality.
Perhaps the most important theme of the story is that these fanatics may not be bad, quite to the contrary, they may be very good. James Thurber thinks that daydreams provide an escape from reality, and a valuable way to make an otherwise boring day livable. The ending to Walter Mitty reflects this opinion. Mitty ends the story returning to the real world, though much better for the break. Consider this quote:
"He took one last drag on his cigarette and snapped it away. Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing on about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last."

4.0 out of 5 stars The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Other Pieces, October 15, 2009

By 

Theresa Maurice Comer "TzCraftyBiz" (Menifee, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Other Pieces (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

Thank you the book was in great shape, the book was for my son, it was required reading for his english class. He liked the book. He even told me he thinks I would enjoy reading it.