Thurber: A Biography

by Burton Bernstein

In life, James Thurber called himself "a wide-eyed son of a bitch with a glass in his hand". Here, in Burton Bernstein's indispensable biography, readers learn how the famed New Yorker humorist and columnist changed from a shy, handicapped Ohioan to the tormented man be became. The author will be featured on a PBS documentary on Thurber this spring. 27 line illustations.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

532 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Christopher Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three nuggets from this fine biography: 1) the 1910s and '20s letters Thurber wrote to his college chum Elliott Nugent which are drenched in century-old fraternity slang and thus are almost unreadably embarrassing; it was certainly a long time before Thurber came around to obeying Strunk & White's dictum "Do not affect a breezy style"; 2) the miraculous anecdote of 18-year-old Truman Capote's first assignment as a New Yorker: escorting a nearly-blind Thurber to an extramarital hotel tryst with a New Yorker secretary, including dressing him afterwards (Capote put the socks on inside-out, which got Thurber in trouble with his wife when it was discovered, and Thurber accused Capote of doing that on purpose); and 3) the unexpected revelation near the end of the book that Thurber came from a family that believed itself steeped in psychic powers, that he himself was regarded as a gifted adept, and that his senile delusions in the last years of his life were all on psychic themes. I never in a million years would have thought this; there isn't a whisper of it in his work (except where he gently ridicules occultic-minded relatives in The Thurber Album).

[Frederick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when it came out, which, I think, was in 1975.
First, the problems with it are that Burton Bernstein reproduces way too many of Thurber's letters in their entirety, most from a time in his life when he showed absolutely no signs of creativity or the humor for which he became famous; Bernstein's disdain for Thurber turns what should be a cautionary tale into an attack and it's about a third too long.
On the upside, Bernstein's inability to weed out insignificant details also allows him to include many important ones. We learn a lot about the daily workings of THE NEW YORKER and about the people NEW YORKER writers met. Thurber's life coincided with a golden age of American writing and the personnel alone make this an interesting book.
I like to compare this to a much shorter and more affectionate biography of Thurber by Charles S. Holmes. It's called THE CLOCKS OF COLUMBUS and really makes the case for Thurber as a hard-working writer. THURBER: A BIOGRAPHY takes Thurber's accomplishments so seriously that Thurber's flaws are magnified.

[Marc Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up reading Thurber. I had no idea just how crazy he really was. His warning about the danger of biographies that is quoted at opening of the book may prove true.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let’s call it 2.49 stars. Tedious beginning, tortuous ending, but much good material in the middle. Full review to come.

On second thought, no full review. Didn't like the book much and Bernstein didn't like Thurber much, and it showed. Seemed like the author went out of his way to put Thurber in a negative light at every opportunity. I get it . . . Thurber wasn't a nice guy most of the time and he wasn't a mentally healthy guy much of the time . . . but the accounts of his faults became tedious. Also, Bernstein clearly hates Middle America!

[Frances Sawaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 5 stars actually go to Thurber (a tortured soul who could spin great humour from life despite his life situation). I have always had a giggle at his New Yorker cartoons with characters who "looked like unbaked sugar cookies." Thurber and Marquis - drawing smiles from life's crap.