James Thurber

Writings and Drawings

Edited by Garrison Keillor

The Library of America, $35

ISBN 1883011221

Review by Michael Sims

James Thurber was the perfect writer for our anxious century. In his preface to My Life and Hard Times, he debunked myths about authors of humorous prose: "The notion that such persons are gay of heart and carefree is curiously untrue. They lead, as a matter of fact, an existence of jumpiness and apprehension . . . 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."

Like the other writers he describes, Thurber talked "largely about small matters and smally about great affairs." In the latest volume of The Library of America, he talks largely and smally for more than 1,000 pages. At his best, he wrote beautifully. Gathered together like this, a surprising amount of his work reflects the aforementioned melancholy view of life. Consider, for example, the sweet anguish of "The Evening's at Seven." Even the classics, such as "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," are funny but hardly cheerful.

Naturally, a canonical volume of Thurber couldn't omit his cartoons and other drawings. They are here in glorious profusion, nearly 500 of the most undisciplined scribbles ever to approach genius. Women and men face off in bars, in bedrooms, and in flagrante. There are also the immortal Thurber animals, from the hippo that just ate Mr. Millmoss to the seal in the bedroom, and a whole gallery of creatures inspired by words -- including the hoodwink, the blind rage, and the spitting image. And we mustn't forget the dogs, the wonderful dogs. They are part of the Thurber trinity: a domineering woman, a tremulous man, and a thurberhound. (Because of their loose lines, thurbies are recommended for companionship rather than for show.)

It has been clinically proven that, taken regularly, Thurber will banish gloom, alleviate stress, and prevent ulcers. This book is a large dose, a genuinely representative collection of the great man's work. There are sections of his first book, Is Sex Necessary?, which he co-authored with E.B. White, and a sizable chunk from his splendid memoir of the New Yorker days. His fables are here. So is his double-barrelled parody of children's books and detective stories.

You will meet Mr. Preble, whose wife argues with him over how to kill her, and Mr. Bidwell, who tries to hold his breath for longer and longer periods of time. And you may find yourself empathizing with the protagonist of "A Box to Hide In," a brief story to which Thurber appends his mantra: "Maybe it will get worse. It's hard to say."

Michael Sims is the author of Darwin's Orchestra, an almanac of natural history to be published next month (Henry Holt).

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