Books with title A Thurber Carnival

James Thurber was one of the finest humorists of the twentieth century (and a crack cartoonist to boot). A bestseller upon its initial publication in 1999, The Thurber Carnival captures the depth of his talent and the breadth of his wit. The stories compiled here, almost all of which first appeared in The New Yorker, are from his uproarious and candid collection My World and Welcome to It—including the American classic "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"—as well as from The Owl in the Attic, The Seal in the Bathroom, and Men, Women and Dogs.

A Thurber Carnival is a revue by James Thurber, adapted by the author from his stories, cartoons and casuals (humorous short pieces),[1] nearly all of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. It was directed by Burgess Meredith. Following a six city tryout, during which Thurber continued to rewrite the show,[2] it premiered on Broadway on February 26, 1960, and ran for 223 performances, with a break from June 25 to September 5. It closed on November 26, 1960.[3] The title is similar to that of The Thurber Carnival (1945), Thurber's most successful collection of stories and drawings.

As James Thurber writes in his preface, "This book contains a selection of the stories and drawings the old boy did in his prime, a period which extended roughly from the year Lindbergh flew the Atlantic to the day coffee was rationed. He presents this to his readers with his sincere best wishes for a happy new world." The Thurber Carnival, which the Saturday Review called "one of the absolutely essential books of our time," was a phenomenal bestseller when it was first published in 1945. The omnibus, virtually all of which first appeared in The New Yorker, draws from such Thurber classics as My World and Welcome to It, My Life and Hard Times, Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated, The Owl in the Attic, The Seal in the Bedroom, and Men, Women and Dogs. "It is time that we stopped thinking of James Thurber as a mere funny man for sophisticates and recognized him as an authentic American genius," wrote the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Mr. Thurber belongs in the great line of American humorists which includes Mark Twain and Ring Lardner."

A full length comedy for a cast of 5 men and 4 women. Winner of a special Tony Award and first performed in New York by Tom Ewell, Peggy Cass, Paul Ford and Alice Ghostley, these sketches of humorous scenes from American life include some of Thurber's most celebrated and insightful satires: The Night the Bed Fell, Gentlemen Shoppers, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and the unforgettable File and Forget in which Thurber recounts his famous correspondence with various publishers who ship him books which he doesn't want and never ordered. A perfect evening of comedy. Scenes Include: ACT ONE Word Dance (Part One); The Night the Bed Fell; Fables for Our Time (Part One); The Wolf at the Door; The Unicorn in the Garden; The Little Girl and the Wolf; If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox; Casuals of the Keys; The Macbeth Murder Mystery; Gentleman Shoppers; The Last Flower. ACT TWO The Pet Department; File and Forget; Mr. Preble Gets Rid of His Wife; Take Her Up Tenderly; The Secret Life of Walter Middy; Word Dance (Part Two). Only material authorized for the production of this play may be used