SPARTY has sent the following challenge:
This morning a host on Michigan Public Radio posed this question: Who are the three greatest American literary humorists?
He hasn't yet offered any choices of his own, but I'll start this off. When I was a much younger person, I read everything I could find in the library by Robert Benchley. I haven't read anything of his in years, now, so for allI know, I might go back and find his stuff silly or not funny at all.
So, feel free to contribute, any of you.
5 comments:
I'll go with Twain, Rogers and, of course, being a Minnesotan, we can't forget Garrison Keilor and Ole and Lena...
I like Twain and Hawthorne.... Their satires/story telling is pretty timeless.
- Trase
The question posed by the radio host was related to literary humorists, and I don't know quite how to define the category. For example, Will Rogers was one of the greatest of the 20th century humorists, but was he a literary humorists? I know he wrote newspaper columns but I understand him to be primarily a stage,screen,radio performer. Likewise, Groucho Marx authored a few books, but was primarily a screen humorists. My list would begin with my two favorites, Mark Twain and Damon Runyon, but then where - James Thurber? Art Buchwald? Finley Peter Dunne?
Just thought of another one that I would include, though not politically correct - Joel Chandler Harris
Larry the cable guy ---hands down !!!
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