Includes James Thurber’s ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, ‘ a 2013 motion picture!
Spanning nearly 300 years of American humor, this anthology of entertaining tales ranges from the inventive mind of Benjamin Franklin and his 1732 story, ‘Alice Addertongue, ‘ to Simon Rich’s 2012 fable, ‘Center of the Universe.’ More than 30 witty short stories include works by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, O. Henry, Langston Hughes, and other masters of the genre.
Nineteenth-century stories include Washington Irving’s classic, ‘Rip Van Winkle: A Posthumous Tale of Diedrich Knickerbocker, ‘ ‘A Jersey Centenarian’ by Bret Harte, and Lucretia P. Hale’s ‘The Peterkins Decide to Learn the Languages.’ From later eras come Ring Lardner’s ‘The Golden Honeymoon, ‘ ‘A Telephone Call’ by Dorothy Parker, ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ by James Thurber, Philip Roth’s ‘The Conversion of the Jews, ‘ and ‘Harrison Bergeron’ by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Table of Content
Alice Addertongue by Benjamin Franklin
Rip Van Winkle: A Posthumous Tale of Diedrich Knickerbocker by Washington Irving
Selecting the Faculty by Robert Carlton
‘The Jumping Frog’: In English. Then in French. Then Clawed Back into a Civilized Language Once More, by Patient, Unremunerated Toil by Mark Twain
Bill Nations by Bill Arp
A Jersey Centenarian by Bret Harte
How I Killed a Bear by Charles Dudley Warner
The Parson’s Horse Race by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Peterkins Decide to Learn the Languages by Lucretia P. Hale
Uncle Remus and the Wonderful Tar-Baby Story by Joel Chandler Harris
His Pa Gets Mad! by George W. Peck
John Adams’ Diary by Bill Nye
Active Colorado Real Estate by Hayden Carruth
The Idiot’s Journalism Scheme by John Kendrick Bangs
Rollo Learning to Read by Robert J. Burdette
The Wish and the Deed by Max Adeler
Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition by Josiah Allen’s Wife (Marietta Holley)
The Crimson Cord by Ellis Parker Butler
The Life Elixir of Marthy by Elizabeth Hyer Neff
The Tale of the Tangled Telegram by Wilbur D. Nesbit
The Set of Poe by George Ade
Our Very Wishes by Harriet Prescott Spofford
The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry
The Golden Honeymoon by Ring Lardner
A Telephone Call by Dorothy Parker
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
Wooing the Muse by Langston Hughes
The Conversion of the Jews by Philip Roth
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
The Gift by Kia Penso
Flight Control by Jervey Tervalon
How to Fight with Your Wife by Howard Kaplan
Center of the Universe by Simon Rich
About the author
Bob Blaisdell is professor of English at the City University of New York’s Kingsborough Community College and the editor of twenty-two Dover literature and poetry collections.
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