World Famous Comics: Is Sex Necessary? : Or Why You Feel the Way You Do
Is Sex Necessary? : Or Why You Feel the Way You Do
By: James Thurber, E. B. White Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Format: Bargain Price Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 208 Publication Date: November 01, 2004
The first book of prose published by either James Thurber or E. B. White, Is Sex Necessary? combines the humor and genius of both authors to examine those great mysteries of life -- romance, love, and marriage. A masterpiece of drollery, this 75th Anniversary Edition stands the test of time with its sidesplitting spoof of men, women, and psychologists; more than fifty funny illustrations by Thurber; and a new foreword by John Updike.
A conversation starter There's no need to actually read this book if you're a male.
Simply carry it around, and you will find yourself approached by a wide variety of women who are amused and perhaps a bit threatened by the title.
Many of them will be interested in showing you the positive response to the question posed by the book's title.
It's quite astonishing, really. You have to try it to believe the results. Good luck.
Ahhh... the sexual revolution--30 years early! You've probably heard of E.B. White--he wrote "Charlotte's Web" after all, quite possibly still required reading in many middle schools (as a lead-in to 2pac Shakur's poetry, I'm sure). James Thurber may be a bit more obscure to some of you, but he was an Ohio State alumnus (go Buckeyes! *cough*), an awesome cartoonist/artist, and an author possessed of a wonderfully ascerbic wit.
The combination of the two in this book is a rather uniquely bizarre experience that I found joyously uplifting.
The subject under discussion is indeed, in a rather obscure and indirect sense, sex. But we never *quite* seem to get there; non sequiturs abound, blank pages, discussions of how to avoid sex, bluebirds, flowers, a section on how children should explain sex to adults, and even a "letters from readers" chapter--but no actual sex. Lots of drawings, but nothing that anyone might find helpful for improving their sex life. (Bowling, yes. Bicycling, definitely. Obscure interpretations of unconscious artwork, absolutely. Sex, no.)
This book wasn't so much a reaction to Freud per se as it was to the wacky influx of psychologists and "sexologists", and their (unfortunately for us, entirely successful) attempts to complexify and obfuscate human behavior. This particular brand of snake oil started in the 20s and hasn't stopped flowing, and we're covered in an ever-growing deluge of how-to relationship manuals, self-help books, and other ludicrous efforts at explaining "the human condition".
White and Thurber's work explains, in the main, nothing. It asks more questions than it answers. The humor is dry and obscure, there are a ton of rather dated references, and if you're under 30 you'll probably need a dictionary. But...
if you need a laugh without a laugh track... you're fed up with "self-help" and "Men are from Saturn, Women are from Liverpool" type books... or you happen to think sex is vastly overrated (it is), give "Is Sex Necessary?" a try. You might be surprised at the answer.
What a romp! Thurber's and White's text satirizing the hullabaloo that our dearest lunatic, Mr. Sigmund Freud, began takes whatever cake is being handed out for satirical writing. It's universally funny, lucid, and did I mention funny? It's hilarious. One should pull out one's thesaurus at this point to find other such words, and all will be a propos. The book should have been a trilogy.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
