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Collecting Himself: James Thurber on Writing and Writers, Humor and Himself

This book features a compilation of James Thurber's insights into the writing process, his observations on other authors, and his personal musings on humor and self-awareness. It offers a glimpse into the mind of one of America's most beloved humorists, showcasing his wit and wisdom on the art of storytelling and the human condition. more

Author

James Thurber
James Thurber

James Thurber was a renowned American cartoonist and writer. Born on December 8, 1894, and died on November 2, 1961, Thurber is known for his humor and satire in his works, which have had a profound impact on American literature and cartoon art. more

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“A peril of the night road is that flecks of dust and streaks of bug blood on the windshield look to me like old admirals in uniform, or crippled apple women, or the front edge of barges, and I whirl out of their way, thus going into ditches and fields and up on front lawns, endangering the life of authentic admirals and apple women who may be out on the roads for a breath of air before retiring.”

WayLooksMayNightAirBloodFrontsFieldsBreathsEdgesDrivingDustApplesRetiringUniformsBugsPerilLawnsStreaksCrippledAdmiralBarges
Book:The Thurber letters: the wit, wisdom, and surprising life of James Thurber
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“We all know that the theater and every play that comes to Broadway have within themselves, like the human being, the seed of self-destruction and the certainty of death. The thing is to see how long the theater, the play, and the human being can last in spite of themselves.”

KnowsHumansLongSelfPlayLastsHuman BeingsDestructionTheaterEntertainmentSeedsCertaintySpiteBroadwaySelf DestructionCertainty Of Death
Book:Collecting Himself: James Thurber on Writing and Writers, Humor and Himself
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“One has but to observe a community of beavers at work in a stream to understand the loss in his sagacity, balance, co-operation, competence, and purpose which Man has suffered since he rose up on his hind legs. He began to chatter and he developed Reason, Thought, and Imagination, qualities which would get the smartest group of rabbits or orioles in the world into inextricable trouble overnight.”

MenWorldReasonPurposeHumanityCommunityImaginationLossQualityTroubleGroupsBalanceRoseLegsOperationsStreamsRabbitsCompetenceChatterBeaversSagacity
Book:Collecting Himself: James Thurber on Writing and Writers, Humor and Himself
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“In an extensive reading of recent books by psychologists, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, and inspirationalists, I have discovered that they all suffer from one or more of these expression-complexes: italicizing, capitalizing, exclamation-pointing, multiple-interrogating, and itemizing. These are all forms of what the psychos themselves would call, if they faced their condition frankly, Rhetorical-Over-Compensation.”

IfsBookFormSufferingReadingPsychologyConditionsExpressionComplexesMultiplePointingCompensationPsychiatristPsychologistPsychoRhetoricalExclamationExtensive Reading
Author:James Thurber
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“Every man is occasionally visited by the suspicion that the planet on which he is riding is not really going anywhere; that the Force which controls its measured eccentricities hasn't got anything special in mind. If he broods on this somber theme long enough he gets the doleful idea that the laughing children on a merry-go-round or the thin, fine hands of a lady's watch are revolving more purposely than he is.”

IfsMenMindChildrenLongIdeasEnoughHandsPurposeForceWatchesLaughingSpecialPlanetsFineRoundsEvery ManThemeRidingSuspicionMerryEccentricityRevolvingSomberMerry Go RoundDoleful
Book:Writings and Drawings
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