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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.5209
EAN num: 9780060932879
ISBN number: 0060932872
Label: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 448
Printing Date: October 01, 1999
Publishing house: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Release Date: September 08, 1999
Sale Popularity Level: 124816
Studio: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
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Product Description:
James Thurber's unique ability to convey the vagaries of life in a funny, witty, and often satirical way earned him accolades as one of the finest humorists of the twentieth century. A bestseller upon its initial publication in 1945. The Thurber Carnivalcaptures the depth and breadth of his talent. The pieces here, almost all of which very first appeared in The New Yorker, include selections from such beloved classics as My World and Welcome to It, The Owl in the Attic, The Seal in the Bathroom, and Men, Women and Dogs. Thurber's take on life, society, and human nature is timeless and will continue to delight readers even as they recognize a bit of themselves in his brilliant sketches.
Amazon.com Review:
After the chuckles and amidst the chortles, the first-time reader of The Thurber Carnival is bound to utter a discreetly voiced 'Huh?' Like Cracker Jacks, there are surprises inside James Thurber's delicious 1945 smorgasbord of essays, stories, and sketches. This festival is, surprises and all, a collection of earlier collections (mostly), including, among others, gems from My World--and Welcome to It, Let Your Mind Alone!, and The Middle Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze. Needless to say, there are also numerous cartoons that, by themselves, are worth the price of admission. While redoubling Thurber's deserved reputation as a laugh-out-loud humorist and teller-of-gentle-tales, it reintroduces him as a thinker-of-thoughts. To wit: his 1933 'Preface to a Life,' in which he observes himself while discussing 'writers of light pieces running from a thousand to two thousand words': To call such persons 'humorists,' a loose-fitting and ugly word, is to miss the nature of their dilemma and the dilemma of their nature. The little wheels of their invention are set in motion by the damp hand of melancholy.
Enjoy the surprises, certainly, but revel in the candy-coated popcorn and peanuts. As in 'More Alarms at Night,' in which a teenaged Thurber intrudes upon his sleeping father, a skittish man named Charles, because he can't recall the name Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Coincidentally, his father has just been frightened half to death by Thurber's brother, who had earlier stalked into his room saying coldly, 'Buck, your time has come.' 'Listen,' I said. 'Name some towns in New Jersey quick!' It must have been around three in the morning. Father got up, keeping the bed between him and me, and started to pull his trousers on. 'Don't bother about dressing,' I said. 'Just name some towns in New Jersey.' While he hastily pulled on his clothes--I remember he left his socks off and put his shoes on his bare feet--father began to name, in a shaky voice, various New Jersey cities. I can still see him reaching for his coat without taking his eyes off me. 'Newark,' he said, 'Jersey City, Atlantic City, Elizabeth, Paterson, Passaic, Trenton, Jersey City, Trenton, Paterson--' 'It has two names,' I snapped. 'Elizabeth and Paterson,' he said.
Of course, things turn out fine, as well they should. And why not? The best of Thurber, which The Thurber Carnival arguably is, is sublime; surprising insight and wry observations tossed lightly and served constantly with effortless good humour and an obvious love for all things gently eccentric. --Michael Hudson
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Rated by buyers 
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The Thurber Carnival is an excellent collection of short fiction, essays and drawings by the late great master of American fiction. Included are such gems as the original Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories - I think I preferred the fiction to the cartoons near the end (many of which if not all appeared in the New Yorker) but those did not disappoint either.
Thurber's eclectic mix of humour and tragedy, hope and desperation, take the reader easily and wholly into his stories. Highly recommended.
Rated by buyers -
I remember reading all the books of his they had in the library when I was a kid--inspired by the short-running TV show "My World and Welcome to It" which was based on his work.
Amazingly, I found him just as entertaining as I did as a child. The Thurber Carnival is a hodge-podge of essays, stories, and drawings culled over several decades and from several other collections. Some are better than others, of course, and quite a few of them are very dated--unsurprisingly, since the book was originally published in 1945, and compiled at that time from earlier sources.
It doesn't really seem to matter. Even though I can't really relate to the early days of the automobile, it didn't stop me from laughing aloud at "Recollections of a Gas Buggy." Human nature hasn't changed all that much in the past 60 or 70 years.
There are quite a few classic stories in here, including "The Catbird Seat," which is a delicious story of revenge, and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," which I hadn't even realized was Thurber's.
His drawings are just as entertaining, which is even more startling after reading in the biography what poor eyesight he had. With just a few lines, he manages to do the same thing he does in the stories and essays with just a few words.
Most of the humour has to do with human nature--specifically, with the way people communicate, or don't. One of the best (i.e. most hilarious) examples is "What Do You Mean It Was Brillig?" in which he lampoons both his housekeeper's accent and his own misunderstanding of and reaction to it. There's also a darkly humorous story, "The Breaking Up of the Winships," about a couple who divorces over a disagreement about Greta Garbo. Change a few minor details, and these stories are as true yesterday as they were when they were written.
I'm really happy I bought this. Not only was it wonderfully nostalgic, and still entertaining today, but I've got this lovely book of very funny, very short pieces that are easy to share with my family. I don't even begrudge the 3 days it took me to read.
Rated by buyers -
Actually, I purchased "The Thurber Carnival" for a friend who used to raised bloodhounds and who has a great sense of humor. Very shortly after I sent it to him, he called to say that he had read it from cover to cover, enjoying it immensely, getting many laughs, and loving the sketches of bloodhounds (altered somewhat). My father loved James Thurber and collected many of his books, including this one. Its stories are timeless, and I was fortunate to have found a hardcover copy in such excellent condition!
Rated by buyers -
A great introduction to this wonderful humorist. I dare you not to laugh out loud at "The Night the Bed Fell." Go on, try it.
Rated by buyers 
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I very first came across Thurber when I was 18 in 1943. The books were in hardback and of course very cheap in those day. I sampled one and then bought the rest. Thurber is very witty, very funny and is easy to relate to. His drawings are wonderful - simple and look so easy. I liked the essays and I loved the cartoons - the one I like best is a chap introducing his wife to a friend 'That's my very first wife up there (she is crouching on top of a bookcase and this is the present Mrs Harris.' Another lovely one is a couple in bed with a seal above the headborad and thei wife is snarling 'All right, have it your way -you heard a seal bark.'Thurbers dogs are so evocate. His humour and give my three grandsons the Thurber Carnvival which they are all enjoying.
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