Nathaniel Benchley (1915–1981)

Oscar enjoyed playing on the otter slide, slipping and sliding down to the water with his fellow pups. But when the slide is blocked by a tree, he disregards his father's warning and decides to build a new one on the mountainside. This new slide is quite long, extending to the very summit of the mountain, and takes him quite a while to create. When he is finally done, one wintry night, he finds himself pursued by a fox, who is in turn pursued by a wolf, who is pursued by a mountain lion, who show more is watched by a moose. Will Oscar get back to his lake in time, or will he be caught...?

An early reader that I greatly enjoyed as a child, Oscar Otter was first published in 1966, and is illustrated by the marvelous Arnold Lobel, creator of such classic characters as Frog and Toad. The humor of the tale, in which a series of progressively larger animals follow one another, always appealed to me, and held up on this adult rereading. The moose, in particular, who thinks he's part of a circus parade at first, only to conclude that all of the rest of the animals are crazy, always makes me chuckle. The conclusion of the story, in which Oscar safely reaches home, was always deeply satisfying to me as a child. The artwork, as could be expected from Lobel, is immensely appealing. Recommended to anyone looking for good early readers featuring animal fiction. show less

An "interview" in only the most notional sense, this is actually a frankensteining of various remarks Steinbeck had made in various contexts on subjects more or less related to writing (the extended digression on Hemingway's suicide, which I guess at the time was seen as possibly an accident, maybe stretches it some, although certainly it's interesting). The fact that it holds together so well is perhaps a bit of a backhanded criticism of the aphoristic quality of Steinbeck's writing, which show more sometimes becomes a kind of portentousness that sounds very weighty and real until you think about it for a second--not that what's there under the affect isn't real, just that it's smaller. He seems to find it hard to write, easy to zero in on tiny matters like the difference in calluses from round and hexagonal pencils; he seems scared that he is in the end a hack and will not be remembered, and to be reminding himself that being remembered is something only a clown cares about. He's a funny neurotic man, and like his novels, there's something embarrassing about this even in all the worthwhile observations--almost too honest. It's an interesting character study, and you go away wishing that the word "middlebrow" had never entered the language and we'd all be a lot less nervous about our mediocrity. As Steinbeck says, in Europe being poor is a misfortune, in America it's shameful. He could extend the same observation to being talentless, even (in his case) to the mere lacking of a talent to bring down the firmament and humble the great. show less

... because I liked the art in Pearl S. Buck's "The Big Fight" and I like many works by all the Benchleys...
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Ok, this is original. The art is rather slapdash, but fine. But the story is really different. I thought for sure we'd see the dolphin in captivity, learning tricks from aquarium keepers, yearning for freedom... but he's young, and smart, and escapes pretty darn promptly! Good for families who are uncomfortable with zoos and prefer the concept of animal companions to the word show more 'pets.' Actually, even better for people who don't realize that they *should* be uncomfortable with zoos.... show less

What a great introduction both to this particular war, and also to big questions like the role of soldiers on either side, in any war. I love Fred who doesn't ask questions... great character. I love that the MC is named for his king. And the history, heck, I learned plenty about the details of the battles of Lexington and Concord that I hadn't understood before. Oh, and it's a fun read, too, with wit and excitement both.

Benchley was a master at this format, and a talented writer for adults, show more too... I'll have to reread some of his novels if I can find them..., show less