James Thurber: His Life and Times

by Harrison Kinney

Book Overview

Critical reviews of Harrison Kinney's epic look at the life and times of humorist James Thurber say it all. "Knowing that Thurber's readers need to be drawn into the process through which he reshaped his adventure of life, Kinney enables us to experience it".John McAleer, CHICAGO TRIBUNE. "Virtually without a dull page . . . The combination of the simple and the complex that makes Thurber so difficult to analyze also makes him a fascinating figure...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080503966X
• ISBN13: 9780805039665
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Length: 1238 Pages
• Weight: 4.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.3" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

those thousand page biographies

The amount of time and work Kinney put into this is amazing, and deeply appreciated by the fans of Thurber. The most insightful portions of the book seem to be the letters Kinney so carefully excerpted, particularly the ones Thurber addressed to his daughter Rosemary. Kinney successfully links the letters' content to particular Thurber cartoons or essays. The titles are whimsical, too, befitting the subject: "Those Clocks of Columbus", "Those Violets in the Snow", phrases culled from some of Thurber's essays. My only complaint is the lack of critical commentary on Thurber's writing; Kinney sometimes has a sentence here or there from some distinguished writer/critic, but I'd like to see an appendix with a variety of takes on the Thurberian canon. And...Kinney seems just a wee bit reverent about Thurber, a little more so than I like in a biography. I'm also crazy about "Jamie", but I expect a little less awe from a scholar. However, I'm nitpicking. I've enjoyed the book so much that I always take it with me and read it on my way to Columbus, Ohio, when I attend the literary picnics at Thurber House. (Before you think I drive like Thurber, let me assure you my husband drives--and we live 50 miles away, so I have an hour to read.) Rereading portions of the biography always makes a festive time even better.

A Must-Have Book for All Thurber Fans and Scholars!

Mr Kinney has given the world (and us fellow "Thurberphiles") a much needed comprehensive critical biography of America's premire 20th century humorist, author, and artist--James Grover Thurber. Mr Kinney's work is well researched and represents over 30 years of painstaking effort, culminating in a plethora of priceless insights and background details concerning this great American author and artist. As an avid (but amateur) Thurber historian and fan, I found the book to fill a much needed space on the shelf of American literary history. Mr Kinney traces Thurber's life, through his early years in Columbus, OH, and later, New York and abroad. He provides historical insight into the early "JT" years at the NEW YORKER staff, and supports his writing with many primary source interviews, papers, photos, letters, etc... While I would have preferred to have seen the use of footnotes and better documentation of sources, the book is still impressive all the same (i.e., he quotes letters and documents but fails to indicate which library/university/private collection, etc., they come from). This book is a "must" for all literary historians and Thurber fans as it provides the best to-date historic timeline and detailed explanation of Thurber, the man: his loves, hates, successes, and failures. To be honest, there are several places where the sheer volume of details and correspondance could overwhelm the novice (despite the book's smooth readability, you will not finish its 1,105 pages over a weekend!). But Mr Kinney should also be praised for his habit of providing a brief outline of each Thurber piece discussed. This serves to assist those readers who may not be throughly familiar with Mr Thurber's works. In addition, his Biographical Update at the end, is an excellent vehicle for tying up the historical and biographical "loose ends" with a "where are they now?" approach. Despite the impressive research however, I did find two very minor inaccuracies: the first one on page 291, where Mr Kinney (referring to Thurber's "Remembrances of Things Past") describes Thurber getting French chickens drunk on bread soaked with "bad wine". In actuality, "Calvados" is not wine, but a brandy made from fermented apples, particular to the Normandy province of France. Also, on page 900, Mr Kinney infers that there was only one Thurber cartoon that depicted a man at a typewriter. This statement is confusing since I've found four Thurber drawings that depict men at typewriters, in addition to the one he is talking about (captioned: "He's giving Dorothy Thompson a piece of his mind"). Despite these minor flaws, Mr Kinney's book is most welcome and should serve for many years as a "one-stop" springboard for others interested in delving into James Thurber's life and influence on American culture. Bravo!