Throughout the war, anthologies of Thurber’s writings were issued as Armed Services editions, and the story became a favorite among American soldiers. The selection was also included in Thurber’s best-selling collection, My World-and Welcome to It (1942). “Though the theme was far from new,” summarizes biographer Harrison Kinney, “Thurber handles it with a greater universal application than anybody before or since.” Soon after the story’s initial appearance in The New Yorker, it was reprinted in Reader’s Digest (twice), Life, Scholastic, and This Week Magazine. In an interview for the Dispatch article, Jared Gardner, a professor at Ohio State University, acknowledges, “Thurber was drawing on a classic device found in some of the great comedies in American culture-in which the timid or oppressed man finds release or redemption in fantasies drawn from popular culture.” Beaten-down underachievers had long been-and would continue to be-central to many of Thurber’s stories and drawings, but what set Walter Mitty apart from his counterparts was a series of flights into heroic fantasies-daydreams that increasingly seem to intrude on Mitty’s grasp of reality. Previous Story of the Week selections by James ThurberĪvailable as an e-bookAn article that appeared recently in The Columbus Dispatch (James Thurber’s hometown newspaper) considers the enduring popularity of characters like Walter Mitty, who made his creator famous after the publication of “The Secret Life” in 1939. “ James Thurber’s Humorous Heart,” (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post) “ Why We Relate to Characters Like Walter Mitty” (Steve Stephens, The Columbus Dispatch)

The secret life of walter mitty 1939