The Man Who Was Walter Mitty

About the Book

The  Man  Who  Was  Walter  Smitty . . .

Offers new insights into James Thurber, the man who has been called “America’s Twentieth Century Mark Twain.”

The author, like Thurber, a native of Ohio, places Thurber in the context of his fictional world, a world of “confusion, eccentricity and chaos.” A world very much like our own – enough like our own for us to see ourselves in it – but ever-so slightly canted toward impending chaos; one step removed from a pratfall, which would in turn escalate into a riot and near disaster for everyone involved. His short stories, “The Night the Bed Fell,” and “The Day the Dam Broke” are perfect examples of how Thurber’s world can collapse into sheer chaos at the first smallest misstep . . .

The Man Who Was Walter Mitty lovingly shows how Thurber’s world was leavened by both humor and tragedy . . .

It examines Thurber as Walter Mitty himself . . . Thurber men (in short story, humor and drawings) were remarkably third day-dreaming men; forever harassed, oppressed and conquered by Thurber women, true harridans all. Only his Thurber dogs, unique variations of bloodhounds or perhaps bassets, looked at life with aplomb and sanity.

James Thurber was very much like Mark Twain. Samuel Clemens moved from Hannibal, Missouri, but never forgot his home. Thurber moved from Columbus, to Europe and back to Ohio, then to New York and eventually to New England, but generations of his familyand his home town of Columbus were never far from his thoughts. One of his most famous quotations was: “I am never very far from Ohio and the clocks that strike in my dreams are always the clocks of Columbus.”

The Life and Work of James Thurber . . . is a loving portrait which examines both the personal life and literary legacy of James Thurber . . . his humor, blindness, word play, imagination, memory, his years at The New Yorker magazine, his dreams, his dogs and his legacy . . . .

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New Century books

XLibris

About the Author

Thomas Fensch has been writing for publication since 1967. His work has appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines since that time. He is also the author or editor of 19 books of non-fiction, including The Hardest Parts: techniques for effective nonfiction and The Sports Writing Handbook. He has also taught nonfiction writing at the university level for 25 years and has published biographies of John Steinbeck, James Thurber, Oskar Schindler and Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel. A native of Ohio, Thomas Fensch has a doctorate in communications from Syracuse University and lives near Houston, Texas.