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Exit Laughing
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
572 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
15 people want to read
About the author
Irvin S. Cobb
313 books18 followers(Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb)
American author, humorist, editor and columnist from Paducah, Kentucky who relocated to New York during 1904, living there for the remainder of his life.
He wrote for the New York World, Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper, as the highest paid staff reporter in the United States.
Cobb also wrote more than 60 books and 300 short stories. Some of his works were adapted for silent movies. Several of his Judge Priest short stories were adapted for two feature films during the 1930s directed by John Ford.
American author, humorist, editor and columnist from Paducah, Kentucky who relocated to New York during 1904, living there for the remainder of his life.
He wrote for the New York World, Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper, as the highest paid staff reporter in the United States.
Cobb also wrote more than 60 books and 300 short stories. Some of his works were adapted for silent movies. Several of his Judge Priest short stories were adapted for two feature films during the 1930s directed by John Ford.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 19, 2020
The first nine chapters in this 1941 autobiography were great. Cobb talks about his ancestors, their origins, how they came to settle in Paducah Kentucky, and many incidents of his younger days in the river city. He includes footnotes every little bit so that he can digress and add more details of a certain uncle or an infamous family legend. It was all fascinating.
But then came chapter 10 which was basically a listing of the various editors Cobb had worked with in his long career in journalism. I simply could not maintain any level of interest here and skipped to the next chapter, which turned out to focus on one editor from the list. Again, for whatever reason, I was not thrilled and skipped ahead to another chapter. And another and then another. I skimmed the rest of the book, as a matter of fact. I never did see anything that compelled me to dive back in the way I had during the first nine chapters.
I can only say that in the early chapters Cobb wrote as a man remembering his past, and in the later chapters he was more of a journalist remembering scoop stories. A career is naturally a part of any man's life, so that should not have been a surprise to me, but the changing style as he went along was. More puns and more apologies for them. More talking at the reader rather than talking with the reader. I might be missing something, but I just couldn't deal with Cobb himself any further.
My mom found this book at a library sale a few years ago and after she read it she asked me if I would be interested in reading it. I had just finished a Cobb book so I said sure. And because of this book I want to read at least a couple of Cobb's Judge Priest stories, where the main character is a combination of Cobb's father, an old friend, and a certain judge in the city. Cobb said the stories featuring this person fed him and his family for 30 years, so I really would like to have a peek at one, and I've already found the first volume of them at Gutenberg. It is now sitting patiently on my Someday List.
But this book will go back to Mom. I think she wants to keep it in her library. At least I will know where it is should I ever decide to return to it and do more than just skim my way through Cobb's adult life.
But then came chapter 10 which was basically a listing of the various editors Cobb had worked with in his long career in journalism. I simply could not maintain any level of interest here and skipped to the next chapter, which turned out to focus on one editor from the list. Again, for whatever reason, I was not thrilled and skipped ahead to another chapter. And another and then another. I skimmed the rest of the book, as a matter of fact. I never did see anything that compelled me to dive back in the way I had during the first nine chapters.
I can only say that in the early chapters Cobb wrote as a man remembering his past, and in the later chapters he was more of a journalist remembering scoop stories. A career is naturally a part of any man's life, so that should not have been a surprise to me, but the changing style as he went along was. More puns and more apologies for them. More talking at the reader rather than talking with the reader. I might be missing something, but I just couldn't deal with Cobb himself any further.
My mom found this book at a library sale a few years ago and after she read it she asked me if I would be interested in reading it. I had just finished a Cobb book so I said sure. And because of this book I want to read at least a couple of Cobb's Judge Priest stories, where the main character is a combination of Cobb's father, an old friend, and a certain judge in the city. Cobb said the stories featuring this person fed him and his family for 30 years, so I really would like to have a peek at one, and I've already found the first volume of them at Gutenberg. It is now sitting patiently on my Someday List.
But this book will go back to Mom. I think she wants to keep it in her library. At least I will know where it is should I ever decide to return to it and do more than just skim my way through Cobb's adult life.
November 3, 2014
EXIT LAUGHING is Irvin Cobb's wonderful autobiography. Cobb was a very popular writer over a period of about forty years prior to World War II -- a star newspaper reporter, a writer of fiction and non-fiction for major magazines, and an author of many amusing little books. His style is breezy and conversational and witty. No matter who or what he is writing about, his sentences and paragraphs have a creamy quality to them, with little fragments of humor or insight added for texture. I cannot think of anybody today whose prose is so elegant and charming.
This is essentially a book about people you've never heard of and incidents more or less forgotten, but it is worth reading for a couple of good reasons. The first is that the quality of the writing is so good that the subject matter does not matter at all. The second is that you get an intimate visit to a period between the world wars when prohibition was in force and when Americans read to get their news and their amusement. If you have any interest in American history (and I certainly do), reading EXIT LAUGHING is like visiting that long-gone era and listening to a charming man describe events large and small and his role on the stage. Each chapter is a story worth reading by itself and entertaining even outside of the context of the whole book.
Despite the title, this is not a book of jokes or funny stories. Cobb was renowned in his day for his wit and that's one half of the title. The other half, the "exit" part, alludes to the book as being an end-of-life retrospective, a look back at a life as an entertainer and observer.
This is essentially a book about people you've never heard of and incidents more or less forgotten, but it is worth reading for a couple of good reasons. The first is that the quality of the writing is so good that the subject matter does not matter at all. The second is that you get an intimate visit to a period between the world wars when prohibition was in force and when Americans read to get their news and their amusement. If you have any interest in American history (and I certainly do), reading EXIT LAUGHING is like visiting that long-gone era and listening to a charming man describe events large and small and his role on the stage. Each chapter is a story worth reading by itself and entertaining even outside of the context of the whole book.
Despite the title, this is not a book of jokes or funny stories. Cobb was renowned in his day for his wit and that's one half of the title. The other half, the "exit" part, alludes to the book as being an end-of-life retrospective, a look back at a life as an entertainer and observer.
June 6, 2011
just a note: my copy is printed in 1941 by bobbs-merrill, and is signed.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews