Alexander Frew's story about The Thurber Carnival

The Thurber Carnival

The Book that changed my life was 'The Thurber Carnival' a digest of short works by the American humorist James Thurber.

This is a book I was given by my father nearly forty years ago when I was twelve years old, yet the contents have always remained bright in my mind. James Thurber was an American humorist who lived between the turn of the 19th century and 1962. He specialised in short pieces for the 'New Yorker' a famous magazine of the time and even collaborated in writing a book about how men and women misunderstand each other with EB White, who wrote 'Charlotte's Web' and 'Stuart Little.'

Thurber is mainly remembered today for his short story 'The Secret life of Walter Mitty' and this was turned into a hugely successful film in the 1940's starring Danny Kaye. Doing a Walter Mitty is still used as an expression for someone pretending to be grander than they are!

Thurber is also remembered for his line drawings of dogs, mainly a type of bloodhound with a typical hangdog expression.

But the reason this book changed my life is quite simple. It is divided into articles, autobiography, stories and illustrated poems. Thurber's rendition of 'Excelsior' by Longfellow has haunted me all my life and I perform it on stage in a humorous fashon with backing music I wrote myself, for Thurber showed me at a tender age that ostensibly serious things can be absurd in their outcome.

His stories of his family such as 'The day the dam broke' and 'The dog who bit people' are absolute gems of the comic art, with pathos added, the latter having a sad ending that brought tears to my eyes.

When I came to write in adult life my stories, songs and poems all had their influences in the style of Thurber. Not that I copied him, at least not in the latter stages, but because he showed how everyday things, when looked at in a certain light were irrepressibly funny. For instance his story of how he fared when his glasses were broken 'The admiral on the wheel' is still a gem of humour. He saw impossible things with his bad eyesight and describes them with a wit and brevity that stands up eighty years later.

I will love this book until the day I die.