Love Conquers All

Benchley's eye for the absurd rarely misses, and he offers an entertaining view of a "simpler" time.

"Love Conquers All," by Robert Benchley, is a collection of 63 short humor that appeared in magazines prior to 1922. We have a handful of funny reviews of books that are probably no longer available (but you don't need to know about the book to laugh at the review) such as "Measure Your Mind," or "Those Dangerously Dynamic British Girls." There are a few parodies of opera plots, always a hard thing to do since opera plots are so fundamentally absurd anyway, but Benchley manages it nicely. There are also a few pieces on how to watch various sports; "How to Watch a Chess Match," "Watching Baseball," and "The Score in the Stands" are all a trifle dated but still amuse. Students who go home for Christmas will understand "Home for the Holidays," even though it is quite out of date too; the humor endures even though many of the references are out of date (dress-studs?). All in all, a wonderful book even though some of the humor is a little hard to get to.