Wings Bestsellers: James Thurber: 92 Stories

If you are not aware of the World of Author/Artist: James Thurber, {1894-1961}, this Wonderful Book is a Fine Place to be introduced to his Work. This book contains all the stories from: "The Owl in the Attic", "The Middle-Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze", "Let Your Mind Alone!" and "Other More or Less Inspirational Places". His Dry Wit and sense of Humor is Timeless in an American Tradition of Great Authors such as: Mark Twain and Bill Mauldin. And with the addition of 125 cartoons from Thurber's Pen, this Book is a feast for the Eyes. I am not going to go into great detail about the Contents of this Book, as these Pages speak for themselves quite nicely. I am a big Fan of this Man's Work and I believe anyone who buys this will enjoy it Greatly. James Thurber; "American Original"..."92 Stories"...FOUR STARS !!!

Absolutely marvelous book!!! I had not expected the darkness of some of the pieces, "The Greatest Man in the World", for instance, which was made into a short video. Most were full of humor, though. Some just hilarious. The one about the math problems had me laughing so hard I couldn't see. Still laughing when I went to bed. Couldn't even describe it without cracking up. What an observer of the human condition he was. And yet. All of his stories, simply all, had downtrodden, woebegone men in them. Unhappy men. Makes me wonder about Thurber himself.

This book is a mostly funny collection of Thurber's stories and essays. Many show off Thurber's keen insight into the foibles of human nature told in a deadpan funny way. Especially good are his stories that he creates from scratch, and his satirical stories. However I found his pieces on the English language boring and the section where he lampoons self help books to be petty and whiny. Also interesting is the glimpse you get into the culture of the 30's which you can only get by reading the daily writing of the time. In all a good book to read since it is easy to skip the parts you don't like.