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My Ten Years in a Quandary and How They Grew
Table of
- GenresHumorEssaysNonfiction
361 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1936
72 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Robert Benchley
136 books78 followersWorks, including
How to Sleep
, the film of 1935, and
My Ten Years in a Quandary
, the book of 1936, of Robert Charles Benchley, humorist, critic, and actor, often pitted an average American against the complexities of modern life.
People best knew Robert Charles Benchley as a newspaper columnist. He began at the Lampoon and meanwhile attended Harvard University and wrote many essays and articles for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.
From New York City and his peers at the Algonquin Round Table, short style brought acclaim, respect, and success to Benchley to contemporaries in the burgeoning industry.
Benchley contributed best remembered influential topical or absurdist essays to The New Yorker. He also made a name in Hollywood, when his popular success won best short subject at the academy awards of 1935, and his many memorable appearances in such as Foreign Correspondent of Alfred Joseph Hitchcock and a dramatic turn in Nice Girl? . He wrote his legacy in numerous short appearances.
People best knew Robert Charles Benchley as a newspaper columnist. He began at the Lampoon and meanwhile attended Harvard University and wrote many essays and articles for Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.
From New York City and his peers at the Algonquin Round Table, short style brought acclaim, respect, and success to Benchley to contemporaries in the burgeoning industry.
Benchley contributed best remembered influential topical or absurdist essays to The New Yorker. He also made a name in Hollywood, when his popular success won best short subject at the academy awards of 1935, and his many memorable appearances in such as Foreign Correspondent of Alfred Joseph Hitchcock and a dramatic turn in Nice Girl? . He wrote his legacy in numerous short appearances.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 5, 2011
I have to admit, I don't quite understand the meaning of the title of this Benchley book, but then that should not be at all surprising; Benchley was, among other things, a master of the non sequitur. So much so that many of his more bland and humorless readers often responded to his newspaper columns with letters that attempted to "correct" him--which usually became the basis for yet another column in which Benchley would chasten his "corrector" with even more non-sequiturs.
Most of the pieces in this compilation come from those same newspaper and magazine columns of the 1930s and 1940s, though the mini-biography in the back ("My Untold Story") appears to be an original. In it, Benchley amusingly recounts his formative days as a "virginal" young journalist during which he had fully expected to experience "life in the raw," based on the hedonistic reps of New York, Paris and Washington where he was variously posted, but where he instead found only nights of milk, tea, orange juice, non-alcoholic grape juice, egg sandwiches and "riotous" trolley rides. But no wild orgies.
Benchley's persona in these pieces is of a white, middle-aged, slightly overweight, highly self-conscious, authority fearing, technologically incompetent, scientifically skeptical and eternally bemused mild misanthrope. He's rife with phobias and guilt and prone to not rock the boat. Participation in the latest fad diets or exercise regimens usually result in mild disaster or a reversion to alcohol and sleep. He's irrationally afraid of falling objects (eg., meteors) and birds (especially owls) and natural disasters and white suits. He's convinced that there are no real cures for hiccups or hangovers, except for death.
Call me an old fart if you will, but Benchley's genially jaded old-school musings always make me laugh even when they're light as can be, which is almost always. Actually, always always.
As background for you new-schoolers, Benchley was a core member of New York's Algonquin Round Table, the infamous gatherings of mostly second-tier literati of the 1920s; who gravitated to the lunch table proscribed by the hotel's proprietor, Frank Case, for light meals, "legal" drinks (only alcoholic ones later in the evening at speakeasies; this was, after all, during Prohibition) and witty insults. A great myth grew up around this coterie, and the truth of the doings of the group was probably less exciting than the legend. Nonetheless, Benchley and his good friend, Dorothy Parker, who was no doubt the most enduring member in terms of literary reputation (and even there, shakily, due to her scant and lightweight output), remain the group's most interesting figures in terms of pop-cultural interest.
I've read quite a few Benchley pieces through the years from his various books, but have never actually finished any one of his many collections, until now. His humor is so brittle and fragile and wry that it almost threatens to crumble and blow away. His very short pieces often strike me as trivial. And yet I've always been drawn to the ineffectual frustrated everyman persona and viewpoint. He was the class act member of the Algonquin Round Table, likeable to all. His theater criticism of the '20s is justly celebrated, including his ongoing feud throughout the '20s with the long-running mawkish play hit, "Abie's Irish Rose." He made a series of short comedy films from the late '20s into the '40s and turned up as a comical sidekick in many major Hollywood features. In his shorts as well as in these stories, he is typically a henpecked husband trying to accomplish some mundane task despite numerous intrusions and obstacles. In this regard he has some similarity to WC Fields. Also like Fields, he drank too much. Unlike Fields, he often tried to deny it even as he knew no one believed him.
One of the funniest pieces in this collection is "My White Suit," which is not so much about a white suit as it is about the self-consciousness and embarassment that can result from perceived silent ridicule. It's one of the best pieces ever written about wanting to crawl into a hole out of irrational fear and feelings of inferiority and guilt. And it's very funny. The following Benchley film short subject, That Inferior Feeling, is partly adapted from "My White Suit" and other pieces in which Benchley's fearful meekness are to the fore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXP4YS...
Another favorite is "One Minute Please," in which an unanswered phone call turns into a debilitating obsession over whether the mystery caller will call back.
Along the way, we encounter a parade of anthropomorphic animals--including owls who take up residence and refuse to leave--as well Benchley's redoubtable unnamed dachsund companion and an "old Navy man" named MacGregor, who has an uncanny ability to disappear at inconvenient moments.
Even when Benchley's conceits seem contrived and forced, which is often, their inevitable veer into surrealism tends to lend an air of artistic legitimacy. The mix is filled with non sequiturs, asides and fourth-wall breaking.
About half the collection is meh and the other half laugh-out loud funny. Benchley was uneven, but when he was "on" he hits the reader with an everyday sense of recognition that is uncanny.
Benchley always admits defeat, and his overall assessment of things seems to be that, all in all, we're lucky that more doesn't go wrong.
Most of the pieces in this compilation come from those same newspaper and magazine columns of the 1930s and 1940s, though the mini-biography in the back ("My Untold Story") appears to be an original. In it, Benchley amusingly recounts his formative days as a "virginal" young journalist during which he had fully expected to experience "life in the raw," based on the hedonistic reps of New York, Paris and Washington where he was variously posted, but where he instead found only nights of milk, tea, orange juice, non-alcoholic grape juice, egg sandwiches and "riotous" trolley rides. But no wild orgies.
Benchley's persona in these pieces is of a white, middle-aged, slightly overweight, highly self-conscious, authority fearing, technologically incompetent, scientifically skeptical and eternally bemused mild misanthrope. He's rife with phobias and guilt and prone to not rock the boat. Participation in the latest fad diets or exercise regimens usually result in mild disaster or a reversion to alcohol and sleep. He's irrationally afraid of falling objects (eg., meteors) and birds (especially owls) and natural disasters and white suits. He's convinced that there are no real cures for hiccups or hangovers, except for death.
Call me an old fart if you will, but Benchley's genially jaded old-school musings always make me laugh even when they're light as can be, which is almost always. Actually, always always.
As background for you new-schoolers, Benchley was a core member of New York's Algonquin Round Table, the infamous gatherings of mostly second-tier literati of the 1920s; who gravitated to the lunch table proscribed by the hotel's proprietor, Frank Case, for light meals, "legal" drinks (only alcoholic ones later in the evening at speakeasies; this was, after all, during Prohibition) and witty insults. A great myth grew up around this coterie, and the truth of the doings of the group was probably less exciting than the legend. Nonetheless, Benchley and his good friend, Dorothy Parker, who was no doubt the most enduring member in terms of literary reputation (and even there, shakily, due to her scant and lightweight output), remain the group's most interesting figures in terms of pop-cultural interest.
I've read quite a few Benchley pieces through the years from his various books, but have never actually finished any one of his many collections, until now. His humor is so brittle and fragile and wry that it almost threatens to crumble and blow away. His very short pieces often strike me as trivial. And yet I've always been drawn to the ineffectual frustrated everyman persona and viewpoint. He was the class act member of the Algonquin Round Table, likeable to all. His theater criticism of the '20s is justly celebrated, including his ongoing feud throughout the '20s with the long-running mawkish play hit, "Abie's Irish Rose." He made a series of short comedy films from the late '20s into the '40s and turned up as a comical sidekick in many major Hollywood features. In his shorts as well as in these stories, he is typically a henpecked husband trying to accomplish some mundane task despite numerous intrusions and obstacles. In this regard he has some similarity to WC Fields. Also like Fields, he drank too much. Unlike Fields, he often tried to deny it even as he knew no one believed him.
One of the funniest pieces in this collection is "My White Suit," which is not so much about a white suit as it is about the self-consciousness and embarassment that can result from perceived silent ridicule. It's one of the best pieces ever written about wanting to crawl into a hole out of irrational fear and feelings of inferiority and guilt. And it's very funny. The following Benchley film short subject, That Inferior Feeling, is partly adapted from "My White Suit" and other pieces in which Benchley's fearful meekness are to the fore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXP4YS...
Another favorite is "One Minute Please," in which an unanswered phone call turns into a debilitating obsession over whether the mystery caller will call back.
Along the way, we encounter a parade of anthropomorphic animals--including owls who take up residence and refuse to leave--as well Benchley's redoubtable unnamed dachsund companion and an "old Navy man" named MacGregor, who has an uncanny ability to disappear at inconvenient moments.
Even when Benchley's conceits seem contrived and forced, which is often, their inevitable veer into surrealism tends to lend an air of artistic legitimacy. The mix is filled with non sequiturs, asides and fourth-wall breaking.
About half the collection is meh and the other half laugh-out loud funny. Benchley was uneven, but when he was "on" he hits the reader with an everyday sense of recognition that is uncanny.
Benchley always admits defeat, and his overall assessment of things seems to be that, all in all, we're lucky that more doesn't go wrong.
August 12, 2017
Of all the writers I read, I pay the most attention to Robert Benchley's writings. For one, I feel that our writings are very similar. He's better of course, but the fact that he wrote about everyday occurrence with the attitude of a Surrealist. Absurdity is his choice of weapon, and I like how he falls into a small narrative and just goes with the flow. All Robert Benchley books are excellent. There is no such thing as a bad collection of his writings. I would give this edition ten stars, just for the 1947 mass paperback design, with illustrations.
August 3, 2016
This is the only Robert Benchley book I've read so far. I think he was well known in his time, but seems to be somewhat forgotten by now.
This book is a collection of humorous short pieces, running from a single page to a several pages long. Some of it is still quite funny. There is stuff I laughed out loud at, but there is also things that haven't aged too gracefully.
I thought this collection was entertaining, funny, and definitly never boring, but maybe not very memorable, not something that prompted me to try to seek out other works by the writer.
This book is a collection of humorous short pieces, running from a single page to a several pages long. Some of it is still quite funny. There is stuff I laughed out loud at, but there is also things that haven't aged too gracefully.
I thought this collection was entertaining, funny, and definitly never boring, but maybe not very memorable, not something that prompted me to try to seek out other works by the writer.
September 15, 2014
I really enjoy Benchley's style, and appreciate his sensibilities. But the truth is, he just didn't put much work into these short magazine pieces. Some hit on a winning idea, and a few carry it to a satisfying conclusion. But a good many are obviously fluff pieces written 45 minutes before deadline.
May 9, 2018
This is a collection of stories, essays and humorous ramblings of Robert Benchley. Everytime I read a collection of his short stories I wish there was someone now-a-days that could write about the current pitfalls and struggles of modern life as Benchley did in the 30's, 40's and 50's. Dave Berry was the most recent writer to find the humor in the every day.
In this collection we find stories about a dachshund that sues for libel after seeing an unflattering article about dachshunds. Another story explains the Indian Rope Trick. A short story explains why he is always last to leave a party because he can't "toddle along." He also tells the reader how to find a misplaced train, how to cure hiccoughs, and why American ghosts are more noisy than European ghosts. I find Benchley a good read especially when I need to smile more often. If you're a Benchley fan this is one of the better collections of his work.
In this collection we find stories about a dachshund that sues for libel after seeing an unflattering article about dachshunds. Another story explains the Indian Rope Trick. A short story explains why he is always last to leave a party because he can't "toddle along." He also tells the reader how to find a misplaced train, how to cure hiccoughs, and why American ghosts are more noisy than European ghosts. I find Benchley a good read especially when I need to smile more often. If you're a Benchley fan this is one of the better collections of his work.
October 6, 2009
i like robert benchley shorts very much, and i like him too but it was hard for me to read this straight through. i took some breaks. this seems to be a collection of columns he wrote for a paper, and sometimes he makes me laugh out loud, but other times it seems too familiar: probably because it is. it's like watching a late night talk show where some PA scans the news for funny articles, and then usually jay leno (though sometimes carson appears) make a lot of jokes about them.
i'm very glad i read it but i wonder if he can manage a sustained narrative. i suspect not, and that's okay. he would have been an awesome talk show host. :)
i'm very glad i read it but i wonder if he can manage a sustained narrative. i suspect not, and that's okay. he would have been an awesome talk show host. :)
April 18, 2012
Not Benchley's best, being comprised mostly of very short pieces, and yet even these trifles can be giddy fun. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this, except that you asked me to tell you the story of the London model who didn't drive men mad. You don't remember that, do you? I suppose that next you'll be saying that you aren't even reading this."
June 2, 2011
A bit uneven. The best of these essays have a timeless appeal that must certainly have influenced modern humorists like Dave Barry but this collection would benefit from some editing.
August 24, 2012
loved it!
March 24, 2017
Some very funny pieces, but also some fairly aggressive editing.
May 15, 2019
Robert Benchley, father of Peter Benchley of Jaws fame, was an American humorist of the early 20th century. He is best-known for his satirical pieces in The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. Because of the readership of these publications, and his New England background and Harvard pedigree, his work delivers a upper-class, East coast vibe.
Much of his humor is satirical and full of non sequiturs and absurd witticisms. It reminded me most of James Thurber, although I like Thurber better, as his stories seem to have more flow, more content to them, whereas this collection of short pieces has whimsical sketches that feel more like silly, brief riffs on a theme. A more recent author in whose voice I hear Robert Benchley is Dave Barry.
I didn't find these short pieces to be funny. Maybe these little remembrances and observations were welcome little jewels as individual articles inside a weekly magazine, but collecting them together in a book form is just too much, IMHO, like eating a box of sugary candy - I couldn't stop reading them, but then again I realized that I wasn't really enjoying the experience.
Much of his humor is satirical and full of non sequiturs and absurd witticisms. It reminded me most of James Thurber, although I like Thurber better, as his stories seem to have more flow, more content to them, whereas this collection of short pieces has whimsical sketches that feel more like silly, brief riffs on a theme. A more recent author in whose voice I hear Robert Benchley is Dave Barry.
I didn't find these short pieces to be funny. Maybe these little remembrances and observations were welcome little jewels as individual articles inside a weekly magazine, but collecting them together in a book form is just too much, IMHO, like eating a box of sugary candy - I couldn't stop reading them, but then again I realized that I wasn't really enjoying the experience.
August 13, 2021
"A lot of people say 'I'm no good in the morning until I've had my coffee.' I'm no good in the morning even after I've had my coffee."
"This old-wives' superstition that a cup of black coffee will 'put you on your feet' with a hangover is either propaganda by the coffee people or the work of dilettante drinkers who get giddy on cooking-sherry. A man with a real hangover is in no mood to be told 'just take a cup of black coffee' or 'The thing for you is a couple of aspirins.' A real hangover is nothing to try out family remedies on. The only cure for a real hangover is death."
"The only thing I ever learned from an ant was not to try to carry too big a crumb on my back or I would walk sideways."
-- Robert Benchley --
"This old-wives' superstition that a cup of black coffee will 'put you on your feet' with a hangover is either propaganda by the coffee people or the work of dilettante drinkers who get giddy on cooking-sherry. A man with a real hangover is in no mood to be told 'just take a cup of black coffee' or 'The thing for you is a couple of aspirins.' A real hangover is nothing to try out family remedies on. The only cure for a real hangover is death."
"The only thing I ever learned from an ant was not to try to carry too big a crumb on my back or I would walk sideways."
-- Robert Benchley --
December 25, 2022
First read this book as a teenager and found it hilarious, I hadn't know adults tried to be funny. Now, rereading it I still found myself laughing out loud at some of these often non-sensical 2-3 page essays. His topics include everyday events, responses to news items of the day--primarily the 1930s, and some of which were items he created as foils. It is interesting that he was writing and selling humor during the harsh days of the Great Depression. Many of the essays find the author as the butt of the humor, with no real persons skewered, only disagreed with. A fun read, but a sense of humor that is not of our current style.
April 13, 2020
Benchley was an essential part of the Algonquin Round Table, there at the beginning of the New Yorker, close friends with Dorothy Parker (he quit Vanity Fair after she was fired), and admired by James Thurber, but somehow he seems to have been forgotten. Which is too bad, because he was just as funny as either Parker or Thurber. He didn’t have Parker’s razor wit or Thurber’s literary gifts, but his parodies, self-deprecations, and absurdist flights (as in the title) have aged quite well. An excellent choice if you’re looking for a laugh.
September 11, 2021
As newspaper articles, I can see this being quite amusing. As a book, it lacked lots. It does, though, show you that nearly a hundred years (1936) doesn't change the human sense of humor in many ways.
March 10, 2024
I couldn’t finish it. Maybe this was funny 80 years ago, but it fell flat for me. I seldom ever DNF, but this one was just too unrewarding to continue plowing through even a little bit at a time. Life is too short and the TBR list is too big to waste time with the likes of this.
May 9, 2019
A very mixed bag. A few of these short pieces made me laugh out loud, some were just sort-of-okay, and some seemed to me both very dated and not at all funny.
July 14, 2019
It's not often that I laugh out loud at writing. This did the trick.
October 3, 2021
This is supposed to be a book of funny short stories. If you had lots of alcohol to drink and were in the right mood, then maybe. Otherwise it is just a waste of time.
March 15, 2025
Amusing but not laugh-out-loud funny.
August 18, 2024
Among Benchley's Best
To begin with, it has one of the most intriguing titles of Benchley books. It is quite a disparate collection and perhaps of considerable value as an introduction to my best friend, Bobby Benchley.
To begin with, it has one of the most intriguing titles of Benchley books. It is quite a disparate collection and perhaps of considerable value as an introduction to my best friend, Bobby Benchley.
March 8, 2016
Once beloved, Robert Benchley seems to have disappeared from the shelves of our booksellers while Dorothy Parker and James Thurber have managed to hold their own. It's a shame, because Benchley is just as funny and ever so much more amiable than those cohorts from the Golden Age of The New Yorker. This fine collection, first published in the 1930s, serves as an admirable treatment for the temporary relief of neurasthenia, the blues and the random case of psychic dyspepsia. Like all humor anthologies, it's best appreciated in small doses, once a day before bedtime, with a full glass of gin.
Want to read
June 23, 2012Colchester Library Book Sale June 2012
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews