Posted on 11/17/2004 4:04:21 AM PST by jalisco555
Christopher Buckley, author of such comic novels as "Thank You for Smoking" and "Florence of Arabia," has won the ninth annual Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Buckley, son of conservative author and commentator William F. Buckley, was given the prize for "No Way To Treat a First Lady," which spoofs the marriage of President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The Thurber award, named for the late humorist and cartoonist James Thurber, is worth $5,000. Previous winners include Ian Frazier's "Coyote vs. Acme" and David Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day."
I used to love reading Thurber when I was in my 20s. I hadn't even heard of this award or this book. I didn't even know Buckley had a son who was an author. Too bad I have no time to read anymore.
One of my favorite stories from the book is about a bird that flew into a plate glass window and knocked himself out. When he came to, he flew off and told other birds that the air "solidified." One bird did not believe him and flew fast into the window and killed himself. For years, when ever I see a bird on the ground, I make the remark that the air must of "solidified" and it flew into it. I think its funny but no one has any idea what I talking about.
Does anyone remember Thurbers story The Catbird Seat?
I confess that I didn't actually read Buckley's books. Rather, I listened to unabridged readings of them (and many other books) in the car to and from work and during other trips. Most of my "reading" takes this form nowadays.
Chris Buckley is funny. I will look for this book in the library!
Books On CD are our freinds! I'll keep my eye out for this one on my favorite Spoken Word sites.
BTW, has anyone read "Coyote v. Acme"? Sounds like a winner if it really is, as I imagine, a spoof on Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corp. for product liability.
I don't think Chris has jumped the shark yet. He's not popular enough for anyone to notice if he did.
If you want to read a great work by the same author, you should take a look at "Thank You For Smoking", which is probably Buckley's most well known piece of political/cultural satire.
Some other interesting titles that you might want to investigate are "Wet Work", "The White House Mess" and "Little Green Men."
Though, in my opinion, probably the funniest book ever written by Christopher Buckley is "Wry Martinis", which is essentially a collection of personal essays, short stories and parodies that he's written over the course of several years for various publications. There's an especially hilarious chapter where he lampoons the idea of a twenty four hour, conservative, cable news channel.
I've read "Wry Martinis," "Wet Work," and "God is My Broker." I believe I'll check out "Thank You for Smoking" next time I'm at the library.
About a timid male office worker, working in a department for years and years. Suddenly, a woman is hired to be his manager. She is brash, loud, a micro-manager to the point of being a b****. She threatens his job. He gets revenge by showing up at her placed, acting wild and crazy, drunk, flirting with her. The next day when she attempts to drop a dime on him to get him fired, no one believes her and she is fired for slandering a co-worker. Sitting ‘‘in the catbird seat’’ means being in an advantageous position.
May I recommend the first Chris Buckley book I read,"Steaming to Bamboola" if you can find a copy.
The only Thurber essay that I've read to any great extent is the one-and even here I can't recall the exact title-that was passed around in the wake of September 11th, 2001 and used some eerily prescient metaphors and imagery.
My favorite essayists by far, though, are H.L. Mencken and his protege, George S. Schuyler.
However, I'm sure you could probably snag a copy from one of these rare book sites, like Alibris.
"Thank You for Smoking" was very good as well. I haven't read (or listened to) all of Buckley's books yet but I'm getting there.
I think that it was performed at some theater upstate, but don't quote me on that.
I never read Thurber but you have piqued my interest. I do love Chris Buckley,,his Thank you For Smoking is hysterical. In th book is a triumverate of lobbyists for the weapons, liquor and smoking interests. They call themselves the MODS,,or merchants of death. It is too funny.
I read "The White House Mess" many years ago while traveling by train in Korea. I coudn't stop laughing.
Do you remember the TV show based on his work, "My World and Welcome to It"? Good show.
I liked his cartoons, too. As a kid, one of my aspirations was to be a New Yorker cartoonist.
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