Henry Finder

Finally, I read The 40s: The Story of a Decade which has made me want to subscribe to The New Yorker so it definitely did its job. It's a collection of pieces from that illustrious publication during the 1940s when it underwent the change from witty, humorist magazine to political, correspondence magazine. From profiles to poetry to politics, The New Yorker broke down barriers and contributed some truly revolutionary writings that left an indelible mark on the history of journalism. I was show more especially moved by the essay on Hiroshima which focused on a handful of survivors of the atomic bomb. The entire collection was fascinating for its time capsule like quality but it was also a fine sampling of excellent writing. I'd also like to point out that I heard about this book on the New York Public Library's homepage on a blog post entitled "The Blacklist: What is Red Reading?". Turns out James Spader is currently reading this book and it sounded so intriguing that I decided to give it a shot. I'm so glad that I did! show less

This is is humor with an edge - not goofball slapstick. Some stories were laugh-out-loud hilarious; but in others I struggled to find any amusement at all. Most of the really clever ones were written before 1950 and many of the authors have written much funnier stuff. One notable exception is Steve Martin's hilarious and all-too-true "Changes in the Memory After Fifty". Well worth a read, but one for dipping into, not reading all in one sitting.

David Remnick and Henry Finder have edited a second collection of New Yorker humor writing (the first being Fierce Pajamas). Disquiet Please! (Random House, 2008) includes pieces, as the editors explain on p. xiii-xiv "not found in the previous anthology, that made us laugh, or beam, or both. Then, when those proved too numerous to fit into a book, we arranged the pieces in a circle and spun a bottle. Afterward, we recycled the bottle." They note that they skewed toward authors who are show more "still living, or very nearly; some are even young ... We have erred on the side of newness."

Like all anthologies, this one is best dipped into at random, rather than read straight through. And, like all anthologies, not all of the selections are rib-crackingly funny. Some aren't very funny at all. Others are hysterical. Each piece, however, is very New Yorker. So if you like that sort of thing, this book's for you.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2009/10/book-review-disquiet-please.html show less

As an avid reader of the New Yorker magazine, I looked forward to reading this collection of pieces from the 1940’s and I was not disappointed. It begins with a fascinating introduction by David Remnick which describes the beginnings of the magazine and how its intent evolved during the years of World War II. The pieces begin with the German invasion of Paris and continue throughout the war and beyond. There is one particularly spectacular piece about John F. Kennedy’s war experience. It show more is a large book and I have approximately one third left to read, but I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in well written prose. I am currently reading this as an egalley but would recommend a hard copy as it would be a nice book to flip through. I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less