The Thurber Letters: The Wit, Wisdom and Surprising Life of James Thurber [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Harrison Kinney (Editor), Rosemary A. Thurber (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 22, 2003

The books that Thurber wrote - with titles such as "My World and Welcome To It", "The Beast in Me and Other Animals", "My Life and Hard Times" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" - were not only works of humour, but also offered glimpses into the author's own life. As with most humorists though, Thurber employed exaggeration and good-natured self-deprecation, and so what glimpses of the writer's life we get are no more than distorted peeks into his mind and psyche. Rather it is in his letters that Thurber offered some candid glimpses into who he really was, and why the prisms through which he viewed the world were so distorting. Thurber's letters trace his progress from immature, lovesick college boy to his last days battling illness. His interesting and comic comments in his personal letters on all these events contribute to an entertaining, informal form of autobiography.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This new edition of Thurber's (1894-1961) correspondence to friends, family, lovers, fellow writers and, of course, New Yorker colleagues runs almost three times the length of the Selected Letters. A maturing portrait emerges, from bumptious young State Department code clerk during WWI to the man behind Walter Mitty, and the milieu of the old New Yorker comes similarly to life. The early letters to his Ohio State fraternity pal and college sweetheart are both sophomoric and romantic. After being posted to Paris and returning to the U.S. at the height of the Roaring 20s, Thurber's stylistic craftsmanship has begun to catch up with his sophisticated wit, which comes to fruition when he joins Harold Ross's New Yorker to edit, write, and rewrite "Talk of the Town" and draw dog cartoons. Thurber employs comedy adeptly and variously to woo several objects of affection and infatuation, to spar with the editorially prickly Ross and to construct droll personae to deal with life's predicaments and to amuse his recipients. The letters hit their peak of hilarity and exuberance in the late 1920s, just before he achieves unexpected fame as a bestselling author, with E.B. White, of Is Sex Necessary?. The chief pleasures here are the free and uncensored jokes (and drawings) and the occasional glimpses, behind Thurber's authorial mask, of a disappointed lover, discontented spirit, Civil War buff and Henry James devotee. For all the padding with prosaic entries, this carnival of correspondence, edited by Thurber's daughter and his biographer, fulfills its promise of wit and wisdom. 16 pages of b&w photos, 15 line drawings.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Samuel Hynes author of Flights of Passage, The Growing Seasons, The Auden Generation, and other major works of literary criticism For readers who believe, as I do, that James Thurber is a permanently important American writer, the publication of The Thurber Letters is a major event. The sublime humorist everybody knows is richly here, but so are all the other Thurbers: the social satirist, the sour misogynist, our man at The New Yorker, the whimsical writer of children's stories, the historian of American trivia, the lover, the father, the friend, the enemy. A big book, as it should be, and a great read all the way. -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 816 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1ST edition (July 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743223438
• ISBN-13: 978-0743223430
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,118,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrill for Thurberphiles, September 19, 2003

By 

Gary Wollenhaupt (Russell, Ky) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Thurber Letters: The Wit, Wisdom and Surprising Life of James Thurber (Hardcover)

This second published collection of letters captures Thurber's wit as well as his love and compassion for his family and his host of friends. If you love Thurber, letters, the New Yorker, dogs, or an insider's look at the world of publishing, enjoy this book.