The Benchley Roundup: A Selection by Nathaniel Benchley of his Favorites
by Robert Benchley
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Robert C. Benchley's sketches and articles, published in periodicals like Life, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker, earned him a reputation as one of the sharpest humorists of his time; his influence—on contemporaries such as E. B. White, James Thurber, and S. J. Perelman, or followers like Woody Allen, Steve Martin, and Richard Pryor—has left an indelible mark on the American comic tradition. The Benchley Roundup collects those pieces, selected by Benchley's son Nathaniel, "which seem to show more stand up best over the years"-a compendium of the most endearing and enduring work from one of America's funniest and most penetrating wits. "It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by then I was too famous." —Robert Benchley show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Read it a while ago. Some of the humor is dated, as you'd imagine with stuff written in the 20's and 30's but some of it surprisingly holds up.
I think I was aware of Benchley via the 90's biopic of Dorothy Parker. He was her colleague & friend (& maybe lover? can't remember) and also a dry wit humorist member of Algonquin Round Table and writer for New Yorker (one of the first I think.)
I think I was aware of Benchley via the 90's biopic of Dorothy Parker. He was her colleague & friend (& maybe lover? can't remember) and also a dry wit humorist member of Algonquin Round Table and writer for New Yorker (one of the first I think.)
More from Benchley: one of the three great humorists of early 20th-c America--along with Thurber and Perelman.
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NPR Readers Poll: 100 Favorite Funny Books
100 works; 5 members
Author Information
Robert Benchley, 1899 - 1945 Writer and actor Robert Benchley was born on September 15, 1899 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Benchley was best known for being a humorist and comedian. While an undergraduate at Harvard University, he gave his first comedic performance impersonating a befuddled after-dinner speaker. He became a campus celebrity and he show more landed the position of editor of the Harvard Lampoon. Benchley worked as a drama critic at Life magazine in 1920. Under the pseudonym Guy Fawkes, he wrote The Wayward Press column for The New Yorker. He also briefly served as managing editor for Vanity Fair where his lieutenants were Dorothy Parker and Robert E. Sherwood. He quit in protest to the firing of Parker. The three of them were among the regulars of the Algonquin Round Table, which was a social circle of New York wits that included Harpo Marx and George Kaufman. As a member of the Algonquin Round Table, he became a poplular radio personality, film actor and screenwriter. Several of Benchley's humorous monologues were performed in short films, which include "The Treasurer's Report" (1928). His comic sketches were collected in fifteen volumes, including "My Ten Years in a Quandary, and How They Grew" (1936) and "Benchley Beside Himself" (1943). His son Nathaniel edited a collection of his essays, "The Benchley Roundup" (1954) and published a biography of his father in 1955. Robert Benchley died in 1945. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1954
- Disambiguation notice
- This book is a collection of Robert Benchley's work selected by his son, Nathaniel Benchley.
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- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.98)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 10
