Thurber, James (1894-1961), was a celebrated American humorist. He became famous both for his comic writings and fables and his cartoonlike drawings.
Thurber’s works describe the anxieties of the average individual in modern society. He wrote chiefly about oversensitive, dissatisfied men who feel trapped by the complications of the modern world. The men in his stories are frustrated by their domineering wives and rebellious children. They often fear such machines as automobiles and dread the pressures of their jobs. They try to escape from their problems through alcohol or daydreams. Thurber’s short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1939), for example, portrays a man who finds relief from his nagging wife through daydreams. In his daydreams, Mitty always plays the fearless hero.
Many of Thurber’s works include cartoons of timid men, menacing women, wicked children, and sad dogs. He wrote his first book, Is Sex Necessary? (1929), with E. B. White and wrote a play, The Male Animal (1940), with Elliott Nugent. He also wrote an autobiography, My Life and Hard Times (1933), which was reissued in Thurber: Writings and Drawings (1966). Much of his work appeared in The New Yorker magazine.
James Grover Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 8, 1894. He was almost blind for the last 15 years of his life. He died on Nov. 2, 1961.
