Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker
by David Remnick (Editor), Henry Finder (Editor)
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When Harold Ross founded The New Yorker in 1925, he described it as a "comic weekly." And although it has become much more than that, it has remained true in its irreverent heart to the description, publishing the most illustrious literary humorists of the modern era, from Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker to Woody Allen and Steve Martin. This anthology gathers together the funniest work of more than seventy contributors. Parodists take on not only writers like Hemingway and Kerouac, but TV show more documentaries, Italian cinema, and etiquette books. Other pieces offer perspectives on the heights of fame, the depths of social embarrassment, and the ups and downs of love and sex. A rich selection of humorous verse includes caustic gems by Dorothy Parker, the effortless whimsy of Phyllis McGinley, and Ogden Nash's unforgettable slapstick prosody, as well as forays by luminaries who ought to have known better.--From publisher description. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
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.
I bought this book for the Garrison Keillor! Just kidding. I can't stand Garrison Keillor. I bought it for the Jack Handey.
"I am willing to do these things because I believe that until people can sit around a desert campfire and go 'Shhh, hear that?' and then listen for the plaintive howl of me, we as a society have lost something." -JH
"I am willing to do these things because I believe that until people can sit around a desert campfire and go 'Shhh, hear that?' and then listen for the plaintive howl of me, we as a society have lost something." -JH
It is dusk in the Laurentians. I am in ski togs. I feel warm and safe, knowing that the most dangerous pitfall for skiers is color, knowing that although a touch of brilliance against the snow is effective, too much of it is the sure sign of the amateur.
This is one of the best humor anthologies EVAH!!!
From AudioFile: THE NEW YORKER started life as a humor magazine and became much, much more. The unique and influential style of urbane, satiric jocularity it pioneered persists into the new century as the magazine continues to publish the nation's wittiest scribes. This joyous anthology presents characteristic representations of the old, new, and in-between. Members of the Algonquin Round Table are here, as well as James Thurber, E.B. White, Ogden Nash, Groucho Marx, and S.J. Perelman. On the contemporary side, we have Garrison Keillor and Steve Martin, among others. There are a few classics, such as Thurber's archetypal "Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and Woody Allen's "The Kugelmass Episode," in which a horny NYU prof magically slips show more between the sheets with Emma Bovary. Six fine pros divide the reading chores; their interpretations range from just above par to terrific. An essential album for anyone interested in the development of American humor in the 1900s. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine show less
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David Remnick was born on October 29, 1958 in Hackensack, N.J. and educated at Princeton University. He began his career at the Washington Post in 1982. In 1992, he became a staff writer for the New Yorker. Remnick's book, Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire, won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize in General Non-Fiction. The work deals with the show more last days of the Soviet Union, which Remnick witnessed firsthand as foreign correspondent to Moscow from the Washington Post. Remnick is the author of numerous other works including The Devil Problem (And Other True Stories) published in 1996, Resurrection, The Struggle for a New Russia in 1997, and King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero, published in 1998. His most recent title, The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama, was published in 2010. (Bowker Author Biography) David Remnick is the editor of "The New Yorker". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for "Lenin's Tomb" & is also the author of "King of the World", about Muhammad Ali; "Resurrection", & "The Devil Problem & Other True Stories". He lives in New York City with his wife & three children. (Publisher Provided) show less
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- Canonical title
- Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker
- Original publication date
- 2001
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- Members
- 788
- Popularity
- 35,191
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.56)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 3
