My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber
1933
James Thurber is one writer from the first half of the 20th Century who has survived mainly on the strength of his odd mixture of stories and cartoons. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty alone has guaranteed his lasting fame.
Thurber lost the sight in one eye when he was a child and slowly went blind by the time he reached his fifties due to a syndrome in which the good eye feels sad for the blind one and performs the old Romeo and Juliette. (There’s a scientific name for it, but who wants to read it?)
Thurber was a humorist who worked mainly for the New Yorker. But like Twain, he was often a depressed and even angry humorist. And in his writings he was as hard on himself due to his temper (which alcoholism did nothing to improve–unless “worse” was desired).
Thurber wrote his so-called biography My Life and Hard Times in 1933. It was a run away best seller and many original copies exist today. I have a first edition which cost me five bucks. (Like the plentitude of Roman coins, age does not drive the cost of a book.) Still, I rather prefer it as an original and I wonder just whose shelf did it sit on for decades before finding its way to me from a bookseller in St. Louis, Missouri.
The stories range from the preposterous yet funny The Night the Bed Fell and The Car We Had to Push to the strangely sad, Draft Board Nights. And there’s a great character called “The Get Ready Man” who goes around shouting threats of armageddon.
It is set in Thurber’s childhood (mainly adolescence) in Columbus, Ohio. And although it is mostly made up stuff from actual people and places, there is something about it that gets the essence of Thurber across, his time, one now antique to the point of mythic. Plus it is loaded with his strangely endearing and weird illustrations, which could have only been created by someone with his bright mind and dim eyes.
It should go without saying that there are parts of the book that are indicative of the times related. And it will go without further comment because any idiot should be able to understand that without being told.
There is one terribly sad coincidence at the opening of the book that has stuck to me. To think that a well known humorist lived where one of the most truly evil acts of modern times was to later occur is chilling. The preface is ended with:
J.T.
Sandy Hook, Connecticut
September 25, 1933
Image: A crowded bookshop from Pixabay.com
literally stories 
Hugh,
When I was working, I used to assume that an applicant’s cv was more important than their interview performance. That was until a colleague told me that a friend of hers had revamped her cv and re-titled it a ‘skills audit.’
Forgot to mention previously how much I enjoyed the Priest, Iman & Rabbit joke. Wonderful. mick
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Hi Mick,
I actually resented sending out a CV. My first two jobs I applied for, you did it by letter and if they were interested, they invited you for an interview. It annoyed me that I hadn’t much to put on it. But now, christ knows how many pages I have. But the weird thing is, any relevance for any job can probably be written on two or three pages!!
Glad you liked the Rabbit joke!!
Thanks as always my fine friend.
Hugh
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Oops, very sorry, Leila, I accidently posted a comment to Hugh on your new thread.
Thurber was pretty well known in the UK. I still remember some of the punchlines, like ‘Don’t you want to greet the rosey-fingered dawn?’
The stories were published here too, and (I think) on the radio. I particularly remember a poignant story about a boy and his dying dog.
I’m putting this one on my reading list. Thanks, mick
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Hi Mick
No problem with the other comment! In fact Hugh will be by and see it anyway!
I know the Dog story, “Memories of a Dog.” He wrote it without “sunset” (his word for sentimentality), and that made it special.
Thanks again. (by the way you had over a hundred and fifty readers at the other place last week. There is no advertising so that is a great accomplishment.)
Leila
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I’ve not read much by Thurber, and this interesting review makes me want to remedy that. If he only knew what would transpire at Sandy Hook. Just as well he didn’t.
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Hi David
I missed this one earlier. Indeed, seeing that in a ninety year old book, that is mostly humourous, written some eighty before the tragedy caused a strange feeling.
Thank you!
Leils
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Watched William Windom as Thurber in My Life And Welcome To It. Show didn’t last long, but I liked it. Learned a lot about James Thurber in wikipedia.
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Hi Doug
I used to watch that show in 1970. It won the best comedy and actor emmys. It was cancelled after one year. The Beverly Hillbillies ran for a decade. That tells plenty.
Thank you!
Leila
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Leila
So many writers and artists generally were blind. I wonder why? Perhaps memory became more critical, their take on the sights of their environment sharpened, or emotions got deeper. Carver’s “Cathedral” comes to mind. Maybe it just seems that way.
Great post. — gerry
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Hi Gerry
I agree. Blindness was an asset to Ray Charles and still is for Stevie wonder. I recall something Thurber wrote while he still could see. But what he saw without glasses–strange shapes and weird ideas. An imaginary world of wonders.
Thank you!
Leila
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LA
I adore this wonderful essay/post on Thurber and his book!
He is a writer eminently worthy of being reminded of. He’s a strange writer (in a good way) in that it’s hard to say which are more well-known, his literary/humor writings or his satirical/enraged/hilarious/psychological cartoons.
I seem to know him better through his drawings, but that could be because his drawings have always intrigued me to the point where I forgot (a little) to delve into his writings more.
A writer who can also establish an entire reputation on a single short story is also special. It means that short story has the impact of a novel, at minimum, in a few thousand words or less. This is an accomplishment that places that writer very close to being a literary poet, or maybe it just makes them a poet.
Your essays on writers, books, and literature always have the perfect balance of background, current status, and personal history (your own).
And since it’s Sunday, I’ll also say that I think Thurber is smiling down upon you for doing this!
Thank you! Charming, heartwarming, life-giving, and just plain wonderful are all terms I see in this. The fact that you never blink from the truth (like the Sandy Hook reference) only makes your writing that much more resonant.
Dale, The Drifter
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Thank you Drifter (that being your fine Sunday name!)
On YouTube there’s an interview with Thurber at his home some time in the fifties. He is essentially blind by then and shows the interviewer how he produced work.
He also loved Dogs and had a great many!
Thanks again
Leila
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LA
Thanks for the heads-up about him on You Tube, me and Boo will check it out!
D
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Hi Leila
Great article!
James Thurber’s Armageddon Shouter reminds me of the “Monster Shouter” in Stephen King’s “The Stand,” played to the hilt by Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
These Writers Read articles are really enlightening!
I love the New Yorker!
That is sinister about Sandy Hook.
Christopher
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Hi Christopher
Yes, casting Kareem, who always even looks taller thanvhe is was inspired.
Some of the people who bellow in public have a touch of genius.
Thank you!
Leila
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Hi Leila,
Another fascinating piece for a Sunday.
And that last reference is something that puts a chill through all of us!!
All the very best.
Hugh
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Thank you Hugh
It is sort of like seeing the World Trade Center towers in movies.
Leila
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Good to have an article on Thurber, and his humorous writings…. that probably would have difficulty getting published today. There was an Emmy award winning TV show “My World And Welcome To It,” (it won a 1970 Emmy for outstanding comedy series) based on Thurber’s work, it aired from 1969 until 1970. The show combined animation and reality, a wry comedy and quite creative. As a daydreamer, I very much related to “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”
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Hi Harrison
Yes, I lived in one of the few American homes (apparently) who watched My World and Welcome to It instead of late in the run Gunsmoke. I was eleven and loved the show because it was so different and a lot brighter than, say, The Brady Bunch. Won emmys for best actor and show and yet got axed after one season.
Sigh
Thank you,
Leila
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Greatly enjoyed your recollection, Leila, thank you. My father was a big Thurber fan and some of that brushed off on me (family lived in New Jersey for a year in the late 1950’s, probably where the interest arose). I know The Night the Bed Fell In. Perhaps some of my liking for surrealism came from JT. I recall a cartoon of a dog (I think) that mystifies the owner because it has only 2 positions – shown as a profile of it seated looking right to left, and – yes – a profile of it looking left to right…(a dog statue). Hilarious guy.
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Hi Alex
Thank you for dropping by! A few years ago I found several books by Thurber that were mostly illustrations. Absolutely singular. His Dogs were always brilliant.
Thanks again!
Leila
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