Sunday, October 12, 2003
JUST FINISHED: Pluck and Luck by Robert Benchley. Oh, how I bemoan the lack of drive of the current generation. The man who wrote tonight's book didn't touch a drop of alcohol until after his thirtieth birthday, and despite that handicap early in life managed to drink himself to death by cirrhosis of the liver by 1945. Sure, heroin overdose or death by E is trendier these days, but that only shows you these lazy kids aren't patient enough to build up to anything truly memorable. Lazy punks.
Now that I've alienated any new readers I might've gained, here's a quick trip through a quick trip through another book by a member of the Algonquin Round Table. Pluck and Luck is a 1925 collection of magazine pieces, and since we don't have the typical list of printings and reprintings on the copyright page, I would've said this copy was an original...if it wasn't inscribed "Christmas, 1948" inside the front cover. Ah, the joys of buying secondhand.
There are two main types of Benchley writing in Pluck and Luck, genre parody and slice-of-life humor. The former are the most unhinged bits of the book, in which popular literary styles of the day and various types of stuffed-shirt academic writing are folded, spindled, and mutilated. The best way to let you know what to expect from these pieces is to think of those monologues Groucho delivers in most of the Marx Brothers movies, then drop Goethe references into one. That's Benchley in a nutshell. While some of the more specialized literary parodies would work better if I actually knew who the authors were (and they're namechecked via subtitle in a few cases), you can still get enjoyment at how Benchley twists the language into pretzels.
The other pieces take us through more prosaic concerns, without nearly as much punishment to the language, but without losing the wit. Here Benchley bemoans the plight of married couples roped into visiting the neighbors, the one day of summer vacation of which no pictures exist (i.e. the day you have go through the misery of packing up), and that evergreen favorite of humorists since time began, travelling with children. It's not as weird as the parodies, but closer to the heart, so still good stuff. The Everyman angle was one that he would more fully develop in his series of movie short subjects, usually in a sort of mock lecture format, so he managed to get a decent blend of the two styles in the end. That's a hell of a trick, if you can pull it off.
A few favorite pieces: "Editha's Christmas Burglar" is the best of the numerous holiday travesties within; from the beating the season takes, Benchley obviously enjoyed an "Old Fashioned Christmas". If you don't remember, that would consist of having a few Old Fashioneds on Christmas day and spending the evening heckling the various versions of "A Christmas Carol" that are on the air. "French For Americans" is apropos even today, with the "phrases most in demand by Americans" including such useful things as "Of all the goddamn countries I ever saw!" and tips on how to convert French currency depending on what day of the week it is. "Whoa!" is a very short political humor piece, and great for a webpage (which is why somebody put it on a page, I suppose). Finally, don't miss "Ask That Man", whose topic should be fairly obvious from the title, even if the resolution (thankfully) isn't.
Unlike Woollcott, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding Benchley if you feel the urge; just about every book he put together in his lifetime (as well as several posthumous collections) are still in print somewhere. If you don't want to tie yourself to one particular book or period, Benchley Roundup is a respectable "best of" volume, and probably the easiest to find in a real-world bookstore.
Now that I've alienated any new readers I might've gained, here's a quick trip through a quick trip through another book by a member of the Algonquin Round Table. Pluck and Luck is a 1925 collection of magazine pieces, and since we don't have the typical list of printings and reprintings on the copyright page, I would've said this copy was an original...if it wasn't inscribed "Christmas, 1948" inside the front cover. Ah, the joys of buying secondhand.
There are two main types of Benchley writing in Pluck and Luck, genre parody and slice-of-life humor. The former are the most unhinged bits of the book, in which popular literary styles of the day and various types of stuffed-shirt academic writing are folded, spindled, and mutilated. The best way to let you know what to expect from these pieces is to think of those monologues Groucho delivers in most of the Marx Brothers movies, then drop Goethe references into one. That's Benchley in a nutshell. While some of the more specialized literary parodies would work better if I actually knew who the authors were (and they're namechecked via subtitle in a few cases), you can still get enjoyment at how Benchley twists the language into pretzels.
The other pieces take us through more prosaic concerns, without nearly as much punishment to the language, but without losing the wit. Here Benchley bemoans the plight of married couples roped into visiting the neighbors, the one day of summer vacation of which no pictures exist (i.e. the day you have go through the misery of packing up), and that evergreen favorite of humorists since time began, travelling with children. It's not as weird as the parodies, but closer to the heart, so still good stuff. The Everyman angle was one that he would more fully develop in his series of movie short subjects, usually in a sort of mock lecture format, so he managed to get a decent blend of the two styles in the end. That's a hell of a trick, if you can pull it off.
A few favorite pieces: "Editha's Christmas Burglar" is the best of the numerous holiday travesties within; from the beating the season takes, Benchley obviously enjoyed an "Old Fashioned Christmas". If you don't remember, that would consist of having a few Old Fashioneds on Christmas day and spending the evening heckling the various versions of "A Christmas Carol" that are on the air. "French For Americans" is apropos even today, with the "phrases most in demand by Americans" including such useful things as "Of all the goddamn countries I ever saw!" and tips on how to convert French currency depending on what day of the week it is. "Whoa!" is a very short political humor piece, and great for a webpage (which is why somebody put it on a page, I suppose). Finally, don't miss "Ask That Man", whose topic should be fairly obvious from the title, even if the resolution (thankfully) isn't.
Unlike Woollcott, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding Benchley if you feel the urge; just about every book he put together in his lifetime (as well as several posthumous collections) are still in print somewhere. If you don't want to tie yourself to one particular book or period, Benchley Roundup is a respectable "best of" volume, and probably the easiest to find in a real-world bookstore.
|| Eric 1:04 AM#
