Without a Stitch in Time: A Selection of the Best Humorous Short Pieces

by Peter De Vries

Harking from the golden age of fiction set in American suburbia—the school of John Updike and Cheever—this work from the great American humorist Peter De Vries looks with laughter upon its lawns, its cocktails, and its slightly unreal feeling of comfort. Without a Stitch in Time, a selection of forty-six articles and stories written for the New Yorker between 1943 and 1973, offers pun-filled autobiographical vignettes that reveal the source of De Vries’s nervous wit: the cognitive dissonance between his Calvinist upbringing in 1920s Chicago and the all-too-perfect postwar world. Noted as much for his verbal fluidity and wordplay as for his ability to see humor through pain, De Vries will delight both new readers and old in this uproarious modern masterpiece.

Genres: Humor, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Peter De Vries is responsible for contributing to the cultural vernacular such witticisms as "Nostalgia ain't what it used to be" and "Deep down, he's shallow." He was, according to Kingsley Amis, "the funniest serious writer to be found on either side of the Atlantic." “Quick with quips so droll and witty, so penetrating and precise that you almost don’t feel them piercing your pretensions, Peter De Vries was perhaps America’s best comic novelist not named Mark Twain. . .” (Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee).
His achievement seemed best appreciated by his fellow writers. Harper Lee, naming the great American writers, said, “Peter De Vries . . . is the Evelyn Waugh of our time". Anthony Burgess called De Vries “surely one of the great prose virtuosos of modern America.”
Peter De Vries was a radio actor in the 1930s, and editor for Poetry magazine from 1938 to 1944. During World War II he served in the U.S. Marines attaining the rank of Captain, and was seconded to the O.S.S., predecessor to the CIA.
He joined the staff of The New Yorker magazine at the insistence of James Thurber and worked there from 1944 to 1987. A prolific writer, De Vries wrote short stories, reviews, poetry, essays, a play, novellas, and twenty-three novels, several of which were made into films.
De Vries met his wife, Katinka Loeser, while at Poetry magazine. They married and moved to Westport, Connecticut, where they raised 4 children. The death of his 10-year-old daughter Emily from leukemia inspired The Blood of the Lamb, the most poignant and the most autobiographical of De Vries's novels.
In Westport, De Vries formed a lifelong friendship with the young J. D. Salinger, who later described the writing process as "opening a vein and bleeding onto the page." The two writers clearly "understood each other very well” (son Derek De Vries in "The Return of Peter De Vries", Westport Magazine, April 2006).
De Vries received an honorary degree in 1979 from Susquehanna University, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in May 1983.
His books were sadly out of print by the time of his death. After the New Yorker published a critical reappraisal of De Vries’ work however (“Few writers have understood literary comedy as well as De Vries, and few comic novelists have had his grasp of tragedy”), The University of Chicago Press began reissuing his works in 2005, starting with The Blood of the Lamb and Slouching Toward Kalamazoo.

Reviews

[Austin Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

98/100

5 stars - 90/100
4 stars - 80/100
3 stars - 70/100
2 stars - 60/100
1 star - 50/100

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was disappointing in its inconsistency. When at his best, De Vries displays a knack for the satirical that could be America's answer to P.G. Wodehouse, or close enough thereto, and fortunately there are a few stories here living up to that. Unfortunately, they are outnumbered by selections ranging from the repetitious to the simply dull, the most common failing throughout being De Vries' unwillingness to temper his prose. I hope to read more of his works, particularly The Blood of the Lamb and Slouching Toward Kalamazoo, in hope of better material, particularly since De Vries does have a respectable command of the English language- not on the level of Mencken, but respectable nonetheless- and what internal rhythms can be salvaged from it. This particular work, however, is an example of authorial narcissism, obscurantism, and in the end a real talent suffocated by its own pretensions.

[Sheska · Rating 3 out of 5]

At 338 pages, this was a fairly short collection of stories, yet it took me almost a year to finish. Largely, because I went into it with pretty high expectations, which sadly fizzled out after the first story. I guess, I’m not much for this type of suburban mundanity. That being said, I loved the author’s writing, and it’s only because of his effortless style, and wit, and self-professed indulgence in marivaudage that I continued to dip in and out of this book. A handful of the stories definitely stood out for me, especially the ones in the last third of the book. But the essay and a transcript of his speech at the end made me glad I stuck it out, so much so I got a few more books by the author, which I intend to read in a much more dedicated fashion.

P.S. Was super happy to spot a few Ulysses references.

[Jonathan Hiskes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's my full review: http://www.curatormagazine.com/jonath...

[Voracious · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. Some quite dated, but others still funny.