The Battle For Congress: Consultants, Candidates, And Voters was published to specifically to help readers understand modern campaigns for seats in Congress, as well as the workings of America's representative democracy. It contains in-depth examinations of six political campaigns from the heated House election year of 1998: specifically, the House contests in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Washington, and Wisconsin. With case studies that closely evaluate professional political consultants, The Battle For Congress is a "must-read" for anyone wanting to learn more about the electoral process that determines America's future.

Who would guess that E.B. White of Charlotte's Web fame would team up with James Thurber to write a spoof of the sex guides that were published during the "sexual revolution." The satire is excellent -- reminiscent of Twain. Though this book is hard to find, it's worth searching out for a quick read. They just don't write books like this anymore. Thurber's drawings are very funny, as is the writing all the way through.

James Thurber is justly famous as one of 20th Century America's most astute humourists--but MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT does not really display the author to his best advantage. Even so, it does contain a few gems that make purchase of this title necessary to Thurber fans.

The showpiece of this collection is the famous but somewhat over-rated "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," but MY WORLD also includes a number of seldom anthologized pieces that show Thurber's wit at a high-water mark, including "The Whip-Poor-Will," "A Friend to Alexander," and "The MacBeth Murder Mystery." It also includes several examples of Thurber's acid perspective on the battle of the sexes, such as "Death in the Zoo," and several memorable examples of his ability to wring laughter from the perfidies of language, such as "What Do You Mean, It 'Was' Brilling?" and "Here Lies Miss Gorby."

But the bulk of MY WORLD consists of much less focused material that Thurber casually produced for THE NEW YORKER--pieces which are mildly humorous examinations of everything from French guidebooks to 19th century copies of the English magazine PUNCH. Thurber's clever prose lends such pieces considerable charm, but they are decidedly minor works when compaired with the side-splitting classics found in other collections. Thurber fans, of course, will be delighted by most of it, but newcomers would likely be happier with such collections as A THURBER CARNIVAL.

This collection of short essays and stories is marvellous. I have carried it with me on every trip I have taken since I first read it. I have my grandfather's copy, which has been on a longtime loan (say, ten years...) I am fondest of the essays, which range from clever little tirades against the Telephone Company and the Motor Vehicle Bureau to accounts and commentaries on Thurber's travels in France and Italy. It is really a wonderful wonderful book, very funny and acute. Please read it.

The Thurber Carnival is really the must-have offering from the Thurber canon, but this book has some delights of its own. His assessment of the psychology behind his cartoons for The New Yorker is typical Thurber, the man at his sharpest. His gallery of wildlife sketches is as believable as it is ridiculous (his portrait of a gloat standing by a patch of I-told-you-sos being just one example).

Let me start by saying that James Thurber is an exeptional writer and most of his stuff is well writen and very readable. However this book while it contains some very good works is not his best work ever. The thing that really drew me to this book was the cover and title and I am glad I read it and did enjoy it, but I have enjoyed some of his other works more.