Writings from the "New Yorker", 1920s-70s by White, E. B. (1989) Paperback

by E.B. White

Three years after E. B. White's death, Rebecca Dale discovered a cache of his New Yorker writings that had yet to be collected. There's certainly nothing mediocre about these 161 pieces, which range from nature vignettes (a New York City sparrow extols urban life) to musings on language, business, and liberty. White's 1953 fantasia of visiting Thoreau's Walden Pond with Joseph McCarthy is peerless. "Wait a minute!" the senator realizes. "This man was Communist-inspired. That accounts for his sour attitude about housing--" The satire is strong, but so is the celebration. A short piece on a skating fest ends: "Ice is an odd substance to have at last freed the body in its persistent attempt to catch up with the spirit." And speaking of which, in "Fred On Space" White asks his dead dachshund how he feels about the first dog launched by the Russians. Fred is far from impressed: "The excuse you men give is that you must continually add to the store of human knowledge--a store that already resembles a supermarket and is beginning to hypnotize the customers."

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Journalism, Classics, New York, Short Stories, Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Elwyn Brooks White was a leading American essayist, author, humorist, poet and literary stylist and author of such beloved children's classics as Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan. He graduated from Cornell University in 1921 and, five or six years later, joined the staff of The New Yorker magazine. He authored over seventeen books of prose and poetry and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1973.

White always said that he found writing difficult and bad for one's disposition.

Mr. White has won countless awards, including the 1971 National Medal for Literature and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, which commended him for making “a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.”

Reviews

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This turned out to be excellent, as you would expect from E. B. White. These are short, unsigned filler pieces he wrote for the New Yorker over a 50 year period, from 1927 - 1976. What was illuminating to me was that he is writing about the very same things that we are dealing with today. Crooked politicians, stupidity and meaness, overcrowded conditions, what we are doing to the environment, the younger generation, etc. Nothing new under the sun, I guess.

[Dinah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover of this book refers to E.B. White as "inimitable," which is a word just vague enough in meaning to the modern ear to suggest the author is venerable and quaint. I couldn't have chosen a better term. While a fair number of these short pieces are pointed and political, all have the tone of a high-brow dinner party among close friends -- strong convictions softened by a pleasant cadence and linguistic etiquette. It is hard to imagine a time when busy New Yorkers opened their magazines to give ear to articles on crickets and the interaction of smog and fog, but such a time must have existed, and Mr. White paints an appealing portrait of it.

One of the most fascinating (if anomalously surreal) pieces involves Mr. White taking a trip (fictional, I believe?) with Senator McCarthy to Walden pond, in order to suss out whether Thorough could be construed as un-American. White's politics are never naked and his portrayal of McCarthy stays safely short of blustering caricature, and yet the subtle undermining of the Senator's positions are playfully apparent throughout. At other times White is more forthright with his politics, as when he dedicated a column to (polite) outrage that the Board of Education was ceasing to recommend books that presented a biased perspective, in favor of balanced texts. White states forcefully that by their nature, all great books are biased, and that one achieves an education by reading many such opinionated tomes, rather than a single aggregate.

And not for nothing, but this is one half of the team responsible for Elements of Style. I've never seen a collection of sentences more effortlessly convey their meaning, without falling prey to the choppiness of intense conviction and emotion. And yet it is clear from the care of his writing that White loves New York, loves Emerson, loves some funny version of America that he happily conjures in all its imperfection. There is surely, surely something for everyone in this collection.

[Quiver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of White's writing's from the New Yorker, ordered according to topic, and within each topic ordered chronologically. Most are short, less than half a page, easy to digest, and not as dated as one might think, even when getting on to ninety years old in some cases.

The living language is a like a cowpath: it is the creation of the cows themselves, who, having created it, follow it or depart from it according to their whims or their needs.

So many years later, White's linguistic adroitness and wisdom continue to inspire. Lovers of essays, fragments, and thoughts—this one is for you.

[Alivia Shen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in a library in providence and they were kinda like a bunch of poems in one. They were all unique in their own way which was very nice. A nice library read

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years ago, during a particularly challenging time in my life, I received a slim volume of essays by E.B. White. I had loved his children's books, Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan; soon, his wit and wisdom commenting on a variety of topics, reminded me of larger issues, making mine more manageable. Reading this collection was like visiting a beloved college professor again, listening to him comment about the world with humor and compassion and honesty. The years he wrote for the New Yorker included the Depression, World War II, the Korean and Viet Nam Wars, all the moments of despair, hope and progress, often seen through some small observation, perhaps easily overlooked by most. His use of language (beyond speaking of himself in the plural form!) is exquisite, sentences beautifully constructed, words carefully chosen..."Life is apt to be translated most accurately by a person who sees it break through the mist at unexpected moments - a person who experiences sudden clear images."

[Mariangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year I read E. B. White’s essay collection Essays of E. B. White. This book contains instead short pieces and editorials, which are very enjoyable. They are grouped by topic.

Here is one excerpt:

“ For six days of the week we find it no trouble at all to drive a car about town. New York’s traffic, however furious, is predictable; and her taxis, even in moments of great verve, are accurate. For six days driving is a pleasure, but on Sundays everything changes: the town, we have discovered, fills up with visiting motorists who have come in from the Oranges and the Pelhams to see a movie. They make driving a hazard almost too great to take on. The minute a red light shows, they stop dead, imperiling everybody behind. The instant a taxi seems about to sideswipe them, they swerve desperately over and sideswipe somebody else, usually us. When they are confronted by a mass of pedestrians at a crossing, instead of charging boldly in and scattering them in the orthodox manner by sheer bluster (which is the only way), they creep timidly up blowing their horns, which lulls the pedestrians and ties up everything. They are easy to spot, these visiting motorists; and the only thing to do, we have found, is to nudge them frequently on the bumper, and chivy them about.”

[Sarah Faber · Rating 5 out of 5]

MOST DELIGHTFUL BOOK IVE EVER READ — NOT CLICKBAIT!!

In one of the pieces, a fun and clever short story in which the narrator takes Senator McCarthy to Walden Pond to teach him about Thoreau, he says that Walden is the only book he owns, though he has many others on his shelves unclaimed. I AM CLAIMING OWNERSHIP OVER THIS BOOK. If I could only own one book ever, it would be this. My entire camera roll rn is pictures of passages. Most of the entries here are from notes and comments, and so are like a paragraph long. Masterfully composed. And there’s some short stories and personal essays that are great too. Cool to see the decades unfold — his paragraph-long obituary of JFK is PERFECTION, as is his dialogue with the ghost of his daushaund, Fred, about Laika’s trip to space. Great takes on baby snails and hyphens and seed catalogs and Robert Moses can’t wait to read more of this guy

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the classic EB White books as a kid, but never really thought to look into his other writing until he was mentioned on a podcast. His essays were just what I needed: semi-serious but also witty and at times just plain funny (like when he writes about his dachshund, Fred.

[Mythili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given this book a five star review if Mr. White sir here wasn't a beaming capitalist and hadn't written the "Summertime" comment. Otherwise, woosh. He is exactly who I aspire to be - as a person. Vibing all the time, quietly walking around the city I live in, watching things happen, finding joy in birds and trees. I love how reflective, thoughtful, witty and unpretentious he is in all his pieces. I wish I had a favorite to pick but they are all good in their own way. I know it's a bad habit to add so many adjectives to a review but he lives up fully to each of those words. Reading this became like eating spoon after spoon of ice cream on a summer day, drinking delicious mocha coffee on a fall evening (with the foam on top of your lip). It gave my mind pleasure equivalent to what a lemon tart gives to my tongue. I was blissfully floating and happy in his perspective, his corner of the world.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's all good--too much all at once. The essays--essayettes, really--on nature, New York, and Maine tend to be the best. White on Thoreau is best of all:

"He got a reputation for being a naturalist, and he was not much of a naturalist. He got a reputation for being a hermit, and he was no hermit. He was a writer, is what he was."

"'Walden' is so indigestible that many hungry people abandon it because it makes them mildly sick, each sentence being an anchovy spread, and the whole thing too salty and nourishing for one sitting."

"What seemed so wrong to him was less man's economy than man's puny spirit and man's strained relationship with nature--which he regarded as a public scandal."

"He was the subtlest humorist of the nineteenth century, a most religious man, and was awake every moment. He never slept, except in bed at night."

[All from "The Individualist":]

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I question I´ve had about writing many times is, "How long should a piece be?" There are the traditional forms, essays, short stories, and novels, etc., however, what if what you have to say is a simple comment or observation that requires less than 500 words to do justice to? Is it worth writing at all?

This collection of short writings by E.B. White goes a long ways towards answering that. The vast majority of the writings in this book were used as filler, a few hundred words to fill space in the New Yorker that would have otherwise been glaringly blank. And it´s good. It´s a collection of snippets; short pieces of writing, unambitious, but quite interesting and satisfying.

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pithy, brief essays on all manner of topics, from his beloved Maine, to Thoreau (very funny) to Science to The Academic Life, all originally published in the New Yorker. What is there to say except that White was quite a thinker, and this collection gives me renewed appreciation for his incredible versatility as a writer both for children and adults. A marvelous book, deliciously intelligent and intellectual, and meant to be savored and shared out loud.

[David Rugge · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many reasons I liked this book:
-It's a great time capsule of the 30's, 40's and 50's.
-The writing is consistently good
-Even if I'm not interested in the topic, the stories are short and easily skipped.
-The essay about Joseph McCarthy and Walden Pond is a classic.

[Elie · Rating 4 out of 5]

EB White is great

[Left Coast Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elwyn Brooks White represents the best of The New Yorker (and New Yorkers.) I encountered one facet of his writing as a child, with Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little; quite another in high school, with Strunk and White always at hand; and yet a third time in adulthood, stumbling across his essays in various compilations. Each of these brought its own type of pleasure. (Yes, I get endorphins flowing in my cranium from reading style guides. I know, don't even say it. I am my parents' child.)

My parents, having gotten shed of their boatload of needy children, began subscribing to both The Atlantic and The New Yorker when I was starting college. This could be likened to the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, I suppose, and while the latter organization makes my skin crawl, I always preferred reading The New Yorker -- both magazines are devoted to the classical notion of liberalism and its importance to a functional democracy, but The New Yorker was, to me, consistently funnier and more practical. Plus, it had cleanup hitter John McPhee in its pages at regular intervals. What I now understand is that the tone of the magazine was really set by Mr. White, who revered nature, revered self-criticism and above all, it seems, revered intellectual liberty. Reading this reminded me that there were some very dark times in this country during the Cold War; a reasonable fear of blowback did not dissuade him from criticizing McCarthyism loudly and often.

The book was organized into several categories -- New York, Nature, Body and Mind, etc. Many of these "essays" were less than a page in length, and were probably originally published on an editorial page. While I enjoyed nearly every one of these, a sameness crept in fairly early on and robbed me of some enjoyment. I think reading one of his essays every few weeks, as originally intended, may serve readers better than trying to gulp down a hundred at a sitting.

For all that, I love these two quotes about language, which display the sort of classic liberalism and civic-mindedness that's so difficult to define, as well as the craft of writing:

A schoolchild should be taught grammar--for the same reason a medical student should study anatomy. Having learned about the exciting mysteries of the English sentence, the child can then go forth and speak and write any damn way he pleases...Children obviously do not depend for communication on a knowledge of grammar; they rely on their ear, mostly, which is sharp and quick. But we have yet to see the child who hasn't profited from coming fact to face with a relative pronoun at an early age, and from reading books, which follow the paths of centuries.

Speaking of a set of rules set forth by a school board for determining which books belong in its libraries:

Irreverence for things held sacred has started many a writer on his way, and will again...We think the way for school children to get both sides of a controvery is to read several books on the subject, not one. In other words, we think the Board should strive for a well-balanced library, not a well-balanced book. The greatest books are heavily slanted, by the nature of greatness.

Now, somewhere there is a book of his consisting of all of his essays about dogs. That's one I'd really like to read.

[Larraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this over a period of a couple of months, a little at a time. Some of the essays are funny, some are charming, some are an interesting window at the times. E.B. White, probably known better to the general public as the author of Charlottes' Web, worked for the New Yorker from 1927-1976 and produced a number of essays long and short. It's an interesting collection. The essays are topical for the period and often are footnoted for the reader who may not understand the person or event that is the subject of the essay. For instance he talks about the famous toy store FAO Schwartz and compares the cost of a toy in 1905 vs the date he wrote the essay which was 1933. He marvels that it's the same toy, just costs more money. He also talks about a little car that is selling for $33. I can't imagine anyone I know who could have afforded that in 1933. That would have been more than a week's wages for a lot of people, more than their rent. It's an interesting look at the changes that happened in the period that he was writing. He has a particularly moving essay about John F. Kennedy.

"When we think of him, he is without a hat, standing in the wind and the weather. He was impatient of topcoats and hats, preferring to be exposed, and he was young enough and tough enough to confront and to enjoy the cold and the wind of these circumstance and national danger. He died of exposure, but in a way that he would have settled for - in the line of duty, and with his friends and enemies all around, supporting him and shooting at him. It can be said of him, as of few men in a like position, that he did not fear the weather, and did not trim his sails, but instead challenged the wind itself, to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people."

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's crazy how many of these clips feel like they were written today, written with modern feelings towards a modern problem. I found it really cool to see the date each piece was written, so long ago and so foreign, and not think the piece was out of date at all. White always seemed to understand the pulse of the world and see things from an outsiders perspective - and what he saw didn't seem all that different from the world we see today. There's crazy patent law (Prohibited, 1932), our shrinking world (Travel Brochure), endless environmentalism (Hunger), the media echo chamber (Expediency), along with fake news and authoritarianism (A Voice Heard in the Land).

In particular White's writing about politics and McCarthyism (Our Political Exiles, Khruschchev and I, among others) seemed incredibly poignant and of course timely. Similarly the whole section on writing (The Word) was incredible. I did lose steam towards the second half of the collection, but clippings that I liked kept popping up and White's writing style was still a joy to read even if the particular clip didn't interest me as much.

In book order, here are my favorites from the first section

Dressing Up
Dismal?
Plant the Garden Anyway
Alarm-Geese
Turtle Blood Bank *(My absolute favorite I think)
Vermin
No Verbs
Motivation
Writing as a Profession
Anything Like That
Come One Come All
Blending In
Liberation of Paris
Khruschchev and I
The Living Language
Fitting In
Get a Handle On It

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of writings from E.B. White.

The book is grouped into several themes with a selection of E.B. White editorials in each theme. Not that individual writings are limited in theme. By theme, I mean, "Education" or "Environment".

E.B. White lived in New York and Maine - his writing is a reflection of his immediate community, the world at large, and the time in which he is living. I truly enjoyed how well set in the present moment each piece was.

The writings are short, grounded in that current moment, and mostly humorous - with a lovely dry wit. Many of these pieces stand the test of time - while we still grapple with the same issues. The "present" of 1938/1947/1955/etc. feel just as salient today.

I truly enjoyed this collection. The writings are fine for all ages but would probably not be understood, as being news-ish items from the past, by younger readers.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a joy to read the writings from one of America’s great writers. Models of precision and economy, each piece conveys so much with so few words. A master of understatement who layers these pieces with meaning and implication. Some pieces are quite moving like his article on the passing of Harold Ross, the founder of the New Yorker with whom E.B. had come to work in 1927 (that piece was written in 1951). Not all pieces in this collection have an interesting subject - some are quite mundane - but one can still admire the construction of the writing; the form is itself an art with E.B. White, the consummate essayist.

[Julie]

This book is what I would have called back in the pre smartphone age a bathroom book.

It's not a book I can sit down and read for a long stretch of time. I first thought it would be a good subway book but alas the writings are just too short. It gets boring quickly.

It is a nice concept, collecting EB White's little talk of the town and blurbs. Maybe if I were a HUGE fan of his it would hold my interest better.

I tried! Back to the library it goes.

[Tamara Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

E. B. White is one of my all-time favorites for both Charlotte’s Web and Trumpet of the Swan. I love his voice in his non-fiction as well. This collection of essays covers an unforgettable era in America’s history and while Mr. White often chooses a slight rose-colored hue in his perspective on the world, the overall affect of decades of his column is one of goodness and beauty. 

[Krista Schandel · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some absolutely hilarious and eloquent pieces in this book and many of them are still very relatable despite being written in the 20s-70s. But, there were a lot of pieces that were topical for when it was written and I had a harder time understanding them. Definitely take this book one or two pieces at a time - I think my trying to read multiple in one sitting did it a disservice.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

White is simply brilliant, and his words have stood the test of time. I marveled at how appropriate his essays still are in today’s climate, and I appreciated the style and beauty of his writing. I pass along most books after I’ve read them, but this one I will keep to revisit again and again.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Credit should be given to editor Rebecca Dale for identifying and then collecting these mostly brief essays from The New Yorker. White was one of the finest prose stylists and these essays are a good way to see him at work on a wide range of topics.

[Jiwon Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn’t stop laughing, this book is a gem!!! It covers a lot of different topics, but his voice is so fascinating that you don’t feel overwhelmed. I am so glad i brought this book with me to Gloucester because it was a great read for my birthday.

[Christian Lingner · Rating 5 out of 5]

My E. B. White era is still in full swing. He's great to read as a stylist, but despite his "aw shucks" persona, he's also worth reading for his wisdom. Love him to death. Reading a biograph of the New Yorker as a magazine is next in this literary side-quest-turned-main-plot of mine.

[Rick Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really nice pieces here, but some are older works that cover "current events" and are not very relevant.

[Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a treasure! Graceful. Grateful.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

None of the pieces in this book are longer than a few pages. Most are only a page, or even only a paragraph. This is just the right size for a literary nightcap or an introspective moment. I've nursed this collection for nearly a year, and now I've turned the last page. What shall I do? I imagine a year or two from now I'll have forgotten so many details that I'll decide to read it afresh.

In the meanwhile, I have bookmarked one of the one-paragraph essays from 1936, because it comforts me to know things haven't changed so much in the past 85 years. Let me quote it here:

"Constitution (2/8/36)

That was a good letter of Thomas Jefferson's which F.P.A. published in his column, in which Jefferson pointed out that there was nothing sacred about constitutions, and that they were useful only if changed frequently to fit the changing needs of the people. Reverence for our Constitution is going to reach droll new heights this year; yet the Constitution, far from being a sacred document, isn't even a grammatical one. 'We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union...' has turned many a grammarian's stomach, perfection being a state which does not admit of degree. A meticulous draughtsman would have written simply 'in order to form a perfect union' --- a thing our forefathers didn't dare predict, even for the sake of grammar.

[Billhotto · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is to be said? E.B. White was the master of the short form essay. A writer who obviously took his own advice to heart, every word serves a purpose. It seems so easy, yet I have read that White agonized over his writings, waiting to the last second to submit them.
The pieces are organized by topics and are in chronological order. White is often remembered as a gentle and humorous observer of everyday foibles and of the natural world. What also becomes obvious is that he was engaged in the big issues of his time. Fascism, Communism, Capitalism ,consumerism, discrimination, McCarthyism, nuclear insanity, the environment. He was, as he called himself, an "independent liberal", too capable of seeing both sides to accept any label. But he was against anything or anyone that threatened the rights of the individual, that sought to thoughtlessly destroy out common heritage, and who would bully or con people. In some ways his political and social writings resemble those of George Orwell. Two very different men, Orwell had a pig named Napoleon, White had Wilbur, living in quite different circumstances. But living in the same time, using the same language (had he lived longer, we might have had "Strunk and Blair", to defend and criticize democracy and decency.