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The Second Tree from the Corner
"The variety of subject matter to be found in these graceful pages is enormous. But no matter what his subject, Mr. White always writes about it in a prose that is a joy to read."--New York Times
253 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 1954
20 people are currently reading
1012 people want to read
About the author
E.B. White
196 books3,285 followersElwyn 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.”
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.”
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
September 26, 2016
I had no idea that this writer of charming children's books wrote prolifically for adults too. He was a newspaper man and one of the things that stands out in this collection is his discussion of the way in which newspapers have to fill their pages and the consequent lowering of the standards of what is written. Like now, except that newspapers were not a bottomless internet pit. His credentials to be this critic? Well, he was the rewriter of The Elements of Style, which might be the most famous of its genre.
He writes of war, of sport, of the nuclear threat, of robots, of cheating at chess. He writes of many things in ways that speak now. Amazing!
He is humorous like this, from a section called 'Answers to Hard Questions' where he harvests questions to newspapers searching for advice and gives his own take.
There it is, that fabulous juxtaposition where he kicks you in the gut, no warning, just kapow. Fantastic. Brilliant line. Brilliant timing. I've read it two dozen times now and it still makes my insides curl up.
This is what you got when you read The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly between 1935 and 1955, the time span of the chosen pieces.
Mrs Wienckus
If, like me, you don't know the reference to Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown, pancocojams discusses it here. It's a song about paying rent.
I challenge the reader not to be moved by this, surely every bit as pertinent now as when it was written.
Fantastic. He's a genius hidden away in the ephemeral nature of the daily (or weekly, or monthly) press.
This book came my way because a stranger died. She left behind a lifetime's reading, a lifetime's observation of the world as reported by the novelist, the poet, the children's writer, the essayist. A history you can see and touch - I simply cannot understand how a USB stick can possibly have the meaning of a room of books. This is one of those I kept and I regard it as a complete treasure, falling apart paperback with cheap yellowing paper. A couple of the pieces in it puzzle me as to their presence. But mostly, oh wow. Sheer bliss.
What about this one?
rest here: https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpre...
He writes of war, of sport, of the nuclear threat, of robots, of cheating at chess. He writes of many things in ways that speak now. Amazing!
He is humorous like this, from a section called 'Answers to Hard Questions' where he harvests questions to newspapers searching for advice and gives his own take.
L.D. writes: Is there any likelihood that the temporary physical condition a man is in would have an effect on his offspring? In other words, should a man hesitate about becoming a father during the time he is suffering from hay fever? - Health column in the Chicago Tribune.
This is a question many a man has had to face, alone with his God. Sensitivity to pollen, the male element of flowers, is at once an exalted and a pitiable condition and inevitably suggests to a prospective progenitor the disquieting potentialities inherent in all propagation. Like father like son is the familiar saying: big sneeze, little sneeze. There is little doubt that allergy to hay, so deep-seated, so shattering, is inheritable; and it is just as certain that a sensitive man, during the season of his great distress, is as eager for life and love as in the periods when his mucosae are relaxed. We cannot conscientiously advise any man to abstain from fatherhood on a seasonal, or foliage, basis. The time not to become a father is eighteen years before a world war.
There it is, that fabulous juxtaposition where he kicks you in the gut, no warning, just kapow. Fantastic. Brilliant line. Brilliant timing. I've read it two dozen times now and it still makes my insides curl up.
This is what you got when you read The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly between 1935 and 1955, the time span of the chosen pieces.
Mrs Wienckus
The Newark police arrested a very interesting woman the other day - a Mrs Sophie Wienckus - and she is now on probation after being arraigned as disorderly. Mrs Wienckus interests us because her 'disorderliness' was simply her capacity to live a far more self-contained life that most of us can manage. The police complained that she was asleep in two empty cartons in a hallway. This was her preferred method of bedding down. All the clothes she possessed she had on - several layers of coats and sweaters. On her person were bankbooks showing that she was ahead of the game to the amount of $19,799.09. She was a working woman - a domestic - and, on the evidence, a thrifty one. Her fault, the Court held, was that she lacked a habitation.
'Why didn't you rent a room?' asked the magistrate. But he should have added parenthetically '(and the coat hangers in the closet and the cord that pulls the light and the dish that holds the soap and the mirror that conceals the cabinet where lives the aspirin that kills the pain).' Why didn't you rent a room '(with the rug that collects the dirt and the vacuum that sucks the dirt and the man that fixes the vacuum and the fringe that adorns the shade that dims the lamp and the desk that holds the bill for the installment on the television set that tells of the wars)?' We feel that the magistrate oversimplified his question.
Mrs Wienckus may be disorderly, but one pauses to wonder where the essential disorder really lies. All of us are instructed to seek hallways these days (except school children, who crawl under desks), [The US expectation of nuclear attack against them colours much of White's writing in this sort of way] and it was in a hallway that they found Mrs Wienckus, all compact. We read recently that the only hope of avoiding inflation is through ever increasing production of goods. This to us always a terrifying conception of the social order - a theory of the good life through accumulation of objects. We lean toward the order of Mrs Wienckus, who has eliminated everything except what she can conveniently carry, whose financial position is solid, and who can smile at Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown. We salute a woman whose affairs are in such excellent order in a world untidy beyond all believe.
If, like me, you don't know the reference to Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown, pancocojams discusses it here. It's a song about paying rent.
I challenge the reader not to be moved by this, surely every bit as pertinent now as when it was written.
The Dream of the American Male
Dorothy Lamour is the girl above all others desired by the men in Army camps. This fact was turned up by Life in a routine study of the unlimited national emergency. It is a fact which illuminates the war, the national dream, and our common unfulfillment. If you know what a soldier wants, you know what Man wants, for a soldier is young, sexually vigorous, and is caught in a line of work which leads towards a distant and tragic conclusion. He personifies Man. His dream of a woman can be said to be Everyman's dream of a woman. In desiring Lamour, obviously his longing is for a female creature encountered under primitive conditions and in a setting of great natural beauty and mystery. He does not want this woman to make any sudden or nervous movement. She should be in a glade, a swale, a grove, or a pool below a waterfall. This is the setting in which every American youth first encountered Miss Lamour. They were in a forest; she had walked slowly out of the pool and stood dripping in the ferns.
The dream of the American male is for a female who has an essential languor which is not laziness, who is unaccompanied except by himself, and who does not let him down. He desires a beautiful, but comprehensible, creature who does not destroy a perfect situation by forming a complete sentence. She is compounded of moonlight and shadows, and has a slightly husky voice, which she uses only in song or in an attempt to pick up a word or two that he teachers her. Her body, if concealed at all, is concealed by a water lily, a frond, a fern, a bit of moss, or by a sarong - which is a simple garment carrying the implicit promise that it will not long stay in place. For millions of years men everywhere have longed for Dorothy Lamour. Now in the final complexity of an age which has reached its highest expression in the instrument panel of a long-range bomber, it is a good idea to remember that Man's most persistent dream is of a forest pool and a girl coming out of it unashamed, walking toward him with a wary motion, childlike in her wonder, a girl exquisitely untroubled, as quiet and accommodating and beautiful as a young green tree. That's all he really wants. He sometimes wonders how this other stuff got in - the instrument panel, the night sky, the full load, the moment of exultation over the blackened city below....
Fantastic. He's a genius hidden away in the ephemeral nature of the daily (or weekly, or monthly) press.
This book came my way because a stranger died. She left behind a lifetime's reading, a lifetime's observation of the world as reported by the novelist, the poet, the children's writer, the essayist. A history you can see and touch - I simply cannot understand how a USB stick can possibly have the meaning of a room of books. This is one of those I kept and I regard it as a complete treasure, falling apart paperback with cheap yellowing paper. A couple of the pieces in it puzzle me as to their presence. But mostly, oh wow. Sheer bliss.
What about this one?
rest here: https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpre...
November 5, 2022
Most of these were earlier writings, some of which I had read before, a sampling of poems and some of the unsigned pieces he wrote for the New Yorker. No matter, White is always a pleasure to read.
Read
February 28, 2019I browsed—reading and bypassing so much (all the poetry) that I'm not rating this book. This 1954 potpourri of E. B. White's essays, New Yorker briefs, fiction (everything from short stories to science fiction), poetry, and satire contains many pieces that are too dated to hold up and others that just weren't of interest to me (but if I'm ever writing about a Model T Ford, I hope I remember to read his complete history of the car). Nevertheless this book will be valuable to anybody who wants to know all of White's work.
The pieces I loved, I loved!—particularly the titular short story, another called "The Hotel of the Total Stranger," and all of the New York City (my home town) reveries—and are worth owning in a book. In the foreword, White describes the collection as one of "farewells," and the final essay, "Death of a Pig" absolutely slayed me.
So even though I skipped many pieces in this book, I cherish my mother's first edition. Just seeing it on my shelf makes me happy.
The pieces I loved, I loved!—particularly the titular short story, another called "The Hotel of the Total Stranger," and all of the New York City (my home town) reveries—and are worth owning in a book. In the foreword, White describes the collection as one of "farewells," and the final essay, "Death of a Pig" absolutely slayed me.
So even though I skipped many pieces in this book, I cherish my mother's first edition. Just seeing it on my shelf makes me happy.
May 12, 2007
For anyone who loves smart, tender writing about things that matter, and pigeons, and fred the dog, and goslings.
February 19, 2021
Brilliant writing from E.B. White. Collections of essays, one of which was spot-on about our lack of attention, comparing the moon to a busker and saying that we cling to our screens in hopes of finding the one detail that will make it all make sense
April 21, 2014
Prophetic, funny, and sad at times. Made me feel nostalgia for a time before I was born.
September 3, 2015
There is such a variety of well written material in this book that everyone will find something to enjoy whether it is the prescient telling of events that have since happened or his recall of days gone by. All are told with an easy humor coursing through them.
"The Hour of Letdown" involves an intelligent machine that encounters resistance when it wants a drink after a hard day. For thoughts on sanity and sense or a lack thereof, here are two tales to try. "The Door" is a human version of a rat in a maze experiment that you can really feel. "The Second Tree from the Corner" speaks to the question of bizarre thoughts in a visit to a shrink. I have several favorites in "Note on Our Times": "Mrs. Wienckus" who chooses to be homeless regardless of her bank account; "Heavier than Air" which I read on a plane while trying to suspend my disbelief that a plane can stay in the air with nothing under it to support it; and two brief tales of Professor Piccard who wants to ascend to the sky using 2000 small balloons.
Some of the best poetry this book includes "Zoo Revisited", a poetic telling of one man's memories of life at the approach of death. For a humorous take on the next arrival from a bookclub, see "A Classic Waits For Me". "Book Review" is a silly look at "Malabar Farm." Also check out "Windown Ledge in the Atom Age." and "Song of the Queen Bee."
"Shop Talk" has essays on poets, the future of reading, english usage, and writers at work. "Some Remarks on Humor" has an interesting perspective, but I think we see things differently now. "Don Marquis" tells of a different literary device: using the wisdom of a cat and a cockroach to fill in the empty spaces in a newspaper with "their" opinions.
This is a great book to take along on a trip since you can pick it up and find something to read for whatever length of time that you have.
"The Hour of Letdown" involves an intelligent machine that encounters resistance when it wants a drink after a hard day. For thoughts on sanity and sense or a lack thereof, here are two tales to try. "The Door" is a human version of a rat in a maze experiment that you can really feel. "The Second Tree from the Corner" speaks to the question of bizarre thoughts in a visit to a shrink. I have several favorites in "Note on Our Times": "Mrs. Wienckus" who chooses to be homeless regardless of her bank account; "Heavier than Air" which I read on a plane while trying to suspend my disbelief that a plane can stay in the air with nothing under it to support it; and two brief tales of Professor Piccard who wants to ascend to the sky using 2000 small balloons.
Some of the best poetry this book includes "Zoo Revisited", a poetic telling of one man's memories of life at the approach of death. For a humorous take on the next arrival from a bookclub, see "A Classic Waits For Me". "Book Review" is a silly look at "Malabar Farm." Also check out "Windown Ledge in the Atom Age." and "Song of the Queen Bee."
"Shop Talk" has essays on poets, the future of reading, english usage, and writers at work. "Some Remarks on Humor" has an interesting perspective, but I think we see things differently now. "Don Marquis" tells of a different literary device: using the wisdom of a cat and a cockroach to fill in the empty spaces in a newspaper with "their" opinions.
This is a great book to take along on a trip since you can pick it up and find something to read for whatever length of time that you have.
November 10, 2015
It was a nice diversion and a nice light read.
July 7, 2012
White and Thurber at the New Yorker at the same time. The Golden Age.
January 26, 2022
The Second Tree from the Corner is dated for sure - not in the "Oh I can't believe they used to think that way", "my childhood hero is ruined", "Yikes, that sounds like something my grandma says after a couple post-dinner sherries" sort of way, but in a more literal sense.
There are references in New Yorker blurbs to people who were likely in vogue at that very moment but never heard of since. He used the collective "we" in editorials, as in "We were astounded to find our wives were not at home" when really just referring to his own wife.
And the poetry, well... it isn't some poetry, nor radiant or terrific, but it is quite humble.
That being said, some of this is truly timeless. He was honest, funny, and prescient. His short piece "Remembering the Model T" is likely one of the funniest, best essays I have ever read. Definitely worth the read, and nice to get a fuller perspective on such a familiar author.
There are references in New Yorker blurbs to people who were likely in vogue at that very moment but never heard of since. He used the collective "we" in editorials, as in "We were astounded to find our wives were not at home" when really just referring to his own wife.
And the poetry, well... it isn't some poetry, nor radiant or terrific, but it is quite humble.
That being said, some of this is truly timeless. He was honest, funny, and prescient. His short piece "Remembering the Model T" is likely one of the funniest, best essays I have ever read. Definitely worth the read, and nice to get a fuller perspective on such a familiar author.
December 6, 2018
I love EB White. I believe his writings and essays are amongst the best of the twentieth century. This does not even address his children’s literature for which he is most famous.
That said, this collection is near the bottom of the compilations of his work. Wry, witty, erudite, yes but not close to the best of his writing. More a hodgepodge of miscellanies.
The fantastic piece “ Death of a Pig “ closes the book but, while fantastically worthwhile, it is in his better collections. Also included is his wonderful eulogy for the Model T which is funny and heartfelt.
White’s wonderful writing worthwhile always but this is among his least
That said, this collection is near the bottom of the compilations of his work. Wry, witty, erudite, yes but not close to the best of his writing. More a hodgepodge of miscellanies.
The fantastic piece “ Death of a Pig “ closes the book but, while fantastically worthwhile, it is in his better collections. Also included is his wonderful eulogy for the Model T which is funny and heartfelt.
White’s wonderful writing worthwhile always but this is among his least
April 22, 2020
I'm only giving this three stars because I don't think I have developed the comprehension of literary fiction, yet. Being a dominant non-fiction reader, this book was somewhat of a tough read to sufficiently synthesize all of Mr. White's thoughts. This book is an eclectic array of his poems and stories, in which some I found interesting. I know reading fiction develops one's emotional intelligence, and that is why I am starting to mingle into fiction more. I'm sure this is an excellent book for someone more in tune with a taste of fictional prose.
September 11, 2020
I loved reading E. B. White's essays and stories. His insightful mind probed the depths of the human experience and demanded a level of honesty that can make a person squirm. Our scientific advancements may not be so advantageous to humanity. E. B. White certainly had serious reservations. But there's lots of wonderful humor, too—the humble kind where he laughs at himself as well as at the rest of human-kind. Here is a man I would have enjoyed having dinner with. Just listening to him tell stories would be a meal in itself.
July 8, 2019
If I could do half stars I might give this book 4.5, because it's a pretty random collection, but then again, I liked the randomness. From a short story about a bartender refusing to serve a robot, to one about a man taking a cab ride through Manhattan and reflecting on all his experiences in NYC, to poems and essays and unsolicited advice, this book made me like E.B. White even more than I already did.
November 6, 2021
There's a lot of poetry in this book that I skipped, so this is really only a partial review. I'm a big fan of E.B. White's very gentle sense of observational humor and his ADHD vibes, and those come out as much as ever in this collection. There are also some absolutely devastating lines so come prepared.
December 15, 2017
A roundup of Talk of the Town and other pieces, most notably several about Fred the dog and the famous "Death of a Pig."
April 11, 2018
Fun, eclectic articles and short stories for adults.
September 11, 2018
4 out of 5
June 10, 2019
A great collection of short stories by E.B. White, far different than his children's books. Fun read.
November 9, 2019
The subject material was too dated for me. I read several of the essays but didn't finish the book.
June 7, 2022
Such phrasing! Beautiful.
July 13, 2022
satiric, humorous, and serious essays and quirky poems.
September 9, 2023
Who doesn’t like a little EB white now and again to cleanse the palate!
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November 11, 2023Can't write because i cant even open this book. This app is totally hectic
February 16, 2024
A ticket to the past, reveals some of the issues faced in the past, such as man tampering with the weather. Remind me now of our concerns with climate change.
June 9, 2024
Thumbs up.
March 15, 2025
Such a good writer. Mostly short articles written before, during, after WWII. Eerie how well it describes today.
December 8, 2018
the book was very original!!
March 16, 2025
More excellent short writings from an author rapidly carving himself into my personal Mt. Rushmore. I’m not one to wring hands over bygones, but America really enjoyed an era where just about every small newspaper had an E.B. White-caliber writer on the books as a columnist. Nowadays, NYT opinion pieces are like “Why hitting brown people with rakes isn’t as bad as you think” and “IDF Girlboss Alert! Meet the first female pilot to blow up a hospital”
Anyway, in this book White makes several forays into other genres besides the essay (such as poetry, sci-fi short stories). They're a mixed bag––often clunky––but it’s also evident that White was not taking these experiments as seriously as his usual stuff. They are effective insofar as they allow him to discuss then-tired topics from fresh angles. One example sees White use sci-fi allegory to comment on the United Nations’ impotence in mitigating conflict. I also wonder if these experiments may have been an attempt to engage with readers ‘checked-out’ of the political problems of the day.
The meat here are White’s ruminations on the distempering effect of the Cold War on domestic culture, and the environmentalist angle he brings to urban observation “Death of a Pig” remains one of the most moving essays I have ever written, and it was a genuine treat to re-read it as the last entry in this collection. Go find an online .pdf of this story and read it––it really is fantastic.
At the end of the day, The Second Tree from the Corner is not as consistently great as the much-later published Essays of E.B. White. But to expect that (as I did) is ridiculous.
Here, White represents the voice of the everyman in post-war America––when even modest attempts at pre-war pastoral life were upheaved by vertigo-inducing technological change and constant political paranoia. What this collection lacks in polish is made up for in both its deep earnestness and prescience. 3.5/5
Anyway, in this book White makes several forays into other genres besides the essay (such as poetry, sci-fi short stories). They're a mixed bag––often clunky––but it’s also evident that White was not taking these experiments as seriously as his usual stuff. They are effective insofar as they allow him to discuss then-tired topics from fresh angles. One example sees White use sci-fi allegory to comment on the United Nations’ impotence in mitigating conflict. I also wonder if these experiments may have been an attempt to engage with readers ‘checked-out’ of the political problems of the day.
The meat here are White’s ruminations on the distempering effect of the Cold War on domestic culture, and the environmentalist angle he brings to urban observation “Death of a Pig” remains one of the most moving essays I have ever written, and it was a genuine treat to re-read it as the last entry in this collection. Go find an online .pdf of this story and read it––it really is fantastic.
At the end of the day, The Second Tree from the Corner is not as consistently great as the much-later published Essays of E.B. White. But to expect that (as I did) is ridiculous.
Here, White represents the voice of the everyman in post-war America––when even modest attempts at pre-war pastoral life were upheaved by vertigo-inducing technological change and constant political paranoia. What this collection lacks in polish is made up for in both its deep earnestness and prescience. 3.5/5
January 21, 2008
E.B. White’s four major themes recurring throughout this collection are both highly entertaining and painfully relevant: the absurdity of daily living in the context of a war abroad (WWII), the lamentable force of fear in the face of a more abstract kind of warfare (the Cold War), the contrast between old ways and new (agriculture, urbanization, mechanization, to name a few applications), and the role of the literary humorist.
How does humor fit in with such heavy topics? According to White, while the humorist is often reputed to be an overly-sensitive, depressed individual for good reason, this depiction doesn’t paint the complete picture; while he is perhaps more acutely sensitive to absurdity and treachery than the average person, his gifts enable him to transform the ingredients of despair into laughter.
White’s views on humor and the humorist’s role in a troubled age produced an impressive assortment of thought-provoking and laughter-inducing articles for journals such as The New Yorker, Harper’s and the Atlantic Monthly, from which excellent examples represented in Second Tree from the Corner. One of my favorites is a tale about his brief employment with the Seattle Times, from which he learned that the Northwest is the kind place where it might be necessary to install a railroad on top of a building in order to change a light bulb. Other favorites include his recollection of dating a girl in his neighborhood whose brother grew up to serve on the House Committee on Un-American Activities, a farewell to the Model T Ford, a pair of letters to the S.P.C.A in New York and the Collector of Internal Revenue in Maine, and a song praising the queen bee’s sexual philosophy.
After reading such a delightful bouquet of narratives, poetry, humor, and parody, it’s hard to imagine why the author is not among our most celebrated literary figures.
How does humor fit in with such heavy topics? According to White, while the humorist is often reputed to be an overly-sensitive, depressed individual for good reason, this depiction doesn’t paint the complete picture; while he is perhaps more acutely sensitive to absurdity and treachery than the average person, his gifts enable him to transform the ingredients of despair into laughter.
White’s views on humor and the humorist’s role in a troubled age produced an impressive assortment of thought-provoking and laughter-inducing articles for journals such as The New Yorker, Harper’s and the Atlantic Monthly, from which excellent examples represented in Second Tree from the Corner. One of my favorites is a tale about his brief employment with the Seattle Times, from which he learned that the Northwest is the kind place where it might be necessary to install a railroad on top of a building in order to change a light bulb. Other favorites include his recollection of dating a girl in his neighborhood whose brother grew up to serve on the House Committee on Un-American Activities, a farewell to the Model T Ford, a pair of letters to the S.P.C.A in New York and the Collector of Internal Revenue in Maine, and a song praising the queen bee’s sexual philosophy.
After reading such a delightful bouquet of narratives, poetry, humor, and parody, it’s hard to imagine why the author is not among our most celebrated literary figures.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews