My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber: book review

My Life and Hard Times (1933, this edition 1999) is the memoir of American humourist James Thurber, growing up in Columbus, Ohio.

This is a short, 80-page, non-serious, book of reminisces about childhood, family, dogs, farm life, and anything else he remembers. As an example, there are 10 chapters or stories, such as ‘The Night the Bed Fell’ and ‘The Day the Dam Broke.’’

Accompanying the text are the author’s cartoon drawings, which are as great as the narrative. Thurber seems to have grown up in an outrageously funny and crazy household – and his grandfather is a comical character that readers will love.

This is exceptionally funny if readers want a short book of humorous stories. But if readers want an academic book about Thurber’s thoughts and philosophies, this isn’t it. It’s so short and so wickedly funny, that it’s worth a read, but don’t forget that it’s written in another era of simple, uncomplicated living.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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