a good book a day for 31 days- The Thurber Carnival

...Do you ever actually 'LOL' when you type 'LOL'? Well...when I read James Thurber's Thurber Carnival I really LOL and even ROLFLMFannyO...he is brilliant. There are short stories on an old dog, the night the bed fell on grandpa, secret lives, hamburgers and mechanical failure, and my favorite short story ever, the catbird seat...there is something perfect with the manner Thurber develops characters primarily through the words they speak without a lot of specific physical description.

"Sitting in his apartment, drinking a glass of milk, Mr. Martin reviewed his case against Mrs. Ulgine Barrows, as he had every night for seven nights. He began at the beginning. Her quacking voice and braying laugh had first profaned the halls of F & S on March 7, 1941 (Mr. Martin had a head for dates). Old Roberts, the personnel chief, had introduced her as the newly appointed special adviser to the president of the firm, Mr. Fitweiler. The woman had appalled Mr. Martin instantly, but he hadn’t shown it. He had given her his dry hand, a look of studious concentration, and a faint smile.”Well,” she had said, looking at the papers on his desk, “are you lifting the oxcart out of the ditch?” As Mr. Martin recalled that moment, over his milk, he squirmed slightly. He must keep his mind on her crimes as a special adviser, not on her peccadillos as a personality. This he found difficult to do, in spite of entering an objection and sustaining it. The faults of the woman as a woman kept chattering on in his mind like an unruly witness. She had, for almost two years now, baited him. In the halls, in the elevator, even in his own office, into which she romped now and then like a circus horse, she was constantly shouting these silly questions at him.”Are you lifting the oxcart out of the ditch? Are you tearing up the pea patch? Are you hollering down the rain barrel? Are you scraping around the bottom of the pickle barrel? Are you sitting in the catbird seat?” from full reads- The Catbird Seat

and then, hilarity ensues... just read it! If you love funny, dry, intelligent, and absurd, The Thurber Carnival is for you.

when to read this book: when you are down in the dumps; when you finished reading twain and Keillor and need more homey humor

why this book is special: it is a perfect collection of Thurber's lifetime of writing

coming soon...a book giveaway from Sophia Institute Press!
What's a favorite humor book of yours?