‘‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’’ (1939) is Thurber’s most famous short story. It follows Mitty, a mild-mannered man who escapes his nagging wife and everyday troubles by imagining himself as a hero.

Thurber’s The Thurber Carnival (1945) is a collection that includes over one hundred stories and drawings, showcasing the best of his humorous work from the 1930s and 1940s.

Remember Laughter: A Life of James Thurber (1994), written by Neil A. Grauer, is the most approachable biography of Thurber. It features photographs and a selection of Thurber’s well-known drawings.

Robert Benchley’s My Ten Years in a Quandary (1936) depicts average American men grappling with the frustrations of twentieth-century life.

America’s Humor: From Poor Richard to Doonesbury (1978), by Walter Blair and Hamlin Hill, is a comprehensive history of American humor.