The Thurber Album 1st Edition [Hardcover] by Thurber, James

Since the only other review of this book is by a professed Thurber fan, I thought I, who had been relatively unaware of Thurber's work before reading this book, could write a helpful review. It is basically a series of portraits of people that were either important in Thurber's family history, important in Columbus, Ohio from the 1910's to the 1930's, or his journalist friends from Columbus. Thurber had a subtle sense of humor, and he uses it to full effect in describing the sometimes outrageous activities of his subjects. The anecdotal history of Columbus that is slowly revealed proved to be quite interesting (I'm a native of central Ohio). Each chapter did end on what at first seemed to be an overly sappy note; however, this is understandable since the book was first published in the early 1950's, when such things were probably expected by Thurber's audience. Overall, this was a very fun read.

I am a big thurber fan amd i found this one of his best works. He writes about his relatives and people who were special to him in his life. The characterizations are excellent and I highly recommend this book to any thurber fan. I read in his biography that some of his family members were not flattered with the book, but I can not see why.