All 50 selections from the 1947 expanded edition of Perelman’s classic anthology
S. J. Perelman’s incomparable gift for wordplay, witticism, spoofery, and sheer nonsense never shone brighter than in this classic collection, now restored to print in a deluxe paperback edition. Here are such beloved gems as “Waiting for Santy: A Christmas Playlet,” a rollicking parody of Clifford Odets’s Waiting for Lefty, about seven proletariat gnomes toiling away in Santa’s North Pole sweatshop; the Joycean virtuoso performance “Scenario,” a spoof of a Hollywood pitch meeting that takes the form of a mishmash of movie clichés, showbiz argot, and popular slang; and “Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer,” Perelman’s homage to the hardboiled detective fiction of Raymond Chandler: “‘Hi,’ the blonde said lazily. ‘You Mike Noonan?’ I made a noise that could have been ‘Yes,’ and waited. She yawned. I thought things over, decided to play it safe. I yawned.”
In a playful, loving new introduction, Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Joshua Cohen—himself an artful wordsmith and punster—sets up Perelman’s sui generis comic pieces for a new generation of readers certain to fall in love with a writer whose special gift, as The New York Times once described it, is the ability “to transform the common cliche or figure of speech into an exploding cigar.”
Sidney Joseph Perelman (1904–1979) was a longtime contributor to The New Yorker, in which he first published many of his humorous essays and sketches. He also wrote film scripts for the Marx Brothers and shared an Oscar in 1956 with James Poe and James Farrow for the screenplay of Around the World in Eighty Days.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction by Joshua Cohen
Kitchen Bouquet Somewhere a Roscoe . . . Waiting for Santy The Idol’s Eye Beauty and the Bee Is There an Osteosynchrondroitrician in the House? Abby, This Is Your Father Buffalos of the World, Unite! Sauce for the Gander Frou-Frou, or Vertigo Revisited Scenario A Farewell to Omsk Nothing but the Tooth Woodman, Don’t Spare that Tree! Strictly from Hunger P-s-s-t, Partner, Your Peristalsis Is Showing A Pox on You, Mine Goodly Host Slow—Dangerous Foibles Ahead! Footnote on Midwinter Facial Trends Counter-Revolution The Love Decoy To Sleep, Perchance to Steam Down with the Restoration! The Body Beautiful Poisonous Mushrooms Button, Button, Who’s Got the Blend? Boy Meets Girl Meets Foot What Am I Doing Away from Home? Hold that Christmas Tiger! Smugglers in the Dust Beat Me, Post-Impressionist Daddy Tomorrow—Fairly Cloudy Sweet and Hot Seedlings of Desire Kitchenware, Notions, Lights, Action, Camera! Captain Future, Block that Kick! Adorable, Taxable You A Couple of Quick Ones 1. Arthur Kober 2. Vincente Minnelli Avocado, or the Future of Eating You Should Live So, Walden Pond Swing Out, Sweet Chariot Second-Class Matter Wholly Cleaning and Dyeing Well, Roll Me in a Turkish Towel! Physician, Steel Thyself Pale Hands I Loathe Insert Flap “A” and Throw Away Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Joshua Cohen (The Netanyahus) reintroduces America's zaniest humourist to a new generation of readers. When asked about himself the writer Sidney Joseph Perelman once quipped, 'before they made him, they broke the mold.' Nowhere is S. J. Perelman's one-of-a-kind, madcap sensibility-his gift for wordplay, witticism, spoofery, and sheer nonsense-on better display than in his classic collection Crazy Like a Fox, here restored to print for the first time in decades. In a playful, loving tribute to the funny man, novelist Joshua Cohen-also an erudite wordsmith and punster-introduces Perelman's sui generis comic pieces to a new generation of readers, certain to fall in love with the writer whom The New York Times once noted for his ability 'to transform the common cliche or figure of speech into an exploding cigar.' Included here are such beloved classics as: the Joycean virtuoso performance 'Scenario'; 'A Farewell to Omsk,' Perelman's hilarious homage to Dostoevsky; and 'Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer,' his side-splitting send-up of the hardboiled detective fiction of Raymond Chandler. Here is Perelman's own selection of the very best of his inimitable humour, restored to print for the first time in decades.
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