The World of S.J. Perelman

by S.J. Perelman

Entering the warped world of SJ Perelman - the Marx brothers' greatest scriptwriter, amongst other things - is a unique comic experience. A satirist and parodist, his celebrated sketches lampoon the screaming absurdities of modern life and bring succour to that most persecuted minority of all: the embattled sane. The undoubted star of these sketches is Perelman's own put-upon fictional persona: all he craves is a little peace and quiet, yet he is continually pushed closer to the edge by those sent to try him. Written mainly for the "New Yorker" magazine, the sketches in this volume are a brand new selection of some of his finest pieces, many of which have been unavailable for decades. This collection covers every decade in which he wrote from the '30s to the '70s. His subversive wit seems as fresh today as it did when it first appeared, and to many he is quite simply the most original and funniest humorist of the twentieth century.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Comedy

325 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Sidney Joseph Perelman, almost always known as S. J. Perelman, was a Jewish-American humorist, author, and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for The New Yorker. He also wrote for several other magazines, as well as books, scripts, and screenplays.

Reviews

[david · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perelman. What a writer. This is the third book of his that I have read. All three books are filled with short stories, many of them published previously in the New Yorker and the NY Times and elsewhere. Unfortunately, his gloriously funny books are fading away, like a knish. Like the telephone booth, the Yellow Pages, good Chinese restaurants, cuff links, typewriters, land lines and Roger Daltry’s golden locks.
The most annoying obstacle to reading him is that it is terribly difficult to look up definitions in his prose, all the time, while your eyes are so moist from laughing. You cannot see, you are bent over from excessive hysteria, you have not visited the restroom in four hours, the laundry machine is overflowing with suds, you do not answer your calls, you forgot to eat the half-sour pickles you bought last month for nourishment, there is a fire down the hall that you ignore, because you must get to the next sentence, chapter, page. I blame Perelman for this, he is a bad man, a co-conspirator with Mephistopheles.
His writing is highly addictive, so for those who are prone to substance abuse, mall shopping, Tums, or Pistachio nuts, you should not read it. There are plenty of other genres available, as we all know.
There are many safe ways to get through your free days. You can iron clothes or jog around in your new invisible quarter high socks or cook naan or play mah-jongg or argue about candidates, or engage in a debate on Pepin’s cooking techniques.
But if you have never met this man, be careful. He kills, recklessly, and in the world of comic writers, this is the apogee of compliments.
Lox vobiscum, and give my regards to Broadway.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having erudite narrative skill & being able to express yourself well is a great advantage in being a writer, but that aint funny--funny is funny. S.J. should have stuck to screenwriting (he wrote Monkey Business & Horse Feathers for the Marx Brothers) where he was funny....

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perelman's prose is mirthful and completely confident.

Whether writing about the Broadway fiasco Cherry Flip, or the sorrows and miseries of getting a barn painted, he is in command and delighted to recount something to delight the reader.

[Simão Duarte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastante engraçado, especialmente pela mudança repentina de cenários/personagens/situações a meio de cada texto e o insólito de grande parte destas. Nota também para a inocência do narrador em algumas das situações, onde o leitor vê claramente o que está à sua frente e o narrador faz-se inocentemente de desentendido, dando uma outra interpretação.
Pena ter algumas piadas muito específicas, que para serem percebidas e engraçadas, é necessário conhecer o contexto sociocultural dos EUA de 1900 e tal.
Ainda assim, é claramente uma boa leitura e que certamente provocará fortes gargalhadas!

[Tom Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quintessential New York fare. I found myself laughing out loud. Every word is not a gem but enough of them are for this to be among my favorite American letters.

[Billy Degge]

Perelman was by most accounts a miserable prick - but my god was the man funny.

[Derek brown]

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