THURBER COUNTRY
A Collection Of Pieces About Males And Females, Mainly Of Our Own Species
by James Thurber
From the New Yorker, Bermudian Holiday and Cosmopolitan come these murmurations by an expert anatomist of confusion, whose knowledge of its mysterious physiology is not to be confused with anyone else's. This expounds his standing (and jumping) rules for a happy marriage, the unexpected dividends of a good clean, sweeping generalization, the chances of survival on a pleasure cruise, the joy of filing and forgetting when correspondence confounds and how man can outwit woman (no ladies, and gentlemen's rules here). There's a sketch or two, more than one dilemma (telephones in closets to be coped with in French and buying your wife a flag and flagpole for Christmas, among them), Aunt Wilma's quandary over odd change, some parodies, the heinous crimes of a practical joker, happy endings for old ballads, etc., etc. Although there is a piece on humor being a headache, it's for certain the only ailment here will be a laugh-ache at the wry disarray of human perplexities. Have a nice time.