the secret life of walter mitty james thurber book buy

Kinney explains, “World War II flyers used ‘pocketa-pocketa’ in radio code planes and vehicles were named ‘Walter Mitty’ airmen formed Walter Mitty clubs troops used ‘Walter Mitty’ as passwords.” During the 1940s Charles Laughton recorded an audio version, and Robert Benchley created a radio production.

Throughout the war, anthologies of Thurber’s writings were issued as Armed Services editions, and the story became a favorite among American soldiers.

The selection was also included in Thurber’s best-selling collection, My World-and Welcome to It (1942). “Though the theme was far from new,” summarizes biographer Harrison Kinney, “Thurber handles it with a greater universal application than anybody before or since.” Soon after the story’s initial appearance in The New Yorker, it was reprinted in Reader’s Digest (twice), Life, Scholastic, and This Week Magazine. In an interview for the Dispatch article, Jared Gardner, a professor at Ohio State University, acknowledges, “Thurber was drawing on a classic device found in some of the great comedies in American culture-in which the timid or oppressed man finds release or redemption in fantasies drawn from popular culture.” Beaten-down underachievers had long been-and would continue to be-central to many of Thurber’s stories and drawings, but what set Walter Mitty apart from his counterparts was a series of flights into heroic fantasies-daydreams that increasingly seem to intrude on Mitty’s grasp of reality. Includes: The Seal in the Bedroom | My Life and Hard Times | The Last Flower | The 13 Clocks | more | 1,004 pagesĪn article that appeared recently in The Columbus Dispatch (James Thurber’s hometown newspaper) considers the enduring popularity of characters like Walter Mitty, who made his creator famous after the publication of “The Secret Life” in 1939. Previous Story of the Week selections by James Thurber “ James Thurber’s Humorous Heart,” (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post) “ Why We Relate to Characters Like Walter Mitty” (Steve Stephens, The Columbus Dispatch)

The secret life of walter mitty james thurber book buy