i like robert benchley shorts very much, and i like him too but it was hard for me to read this straight through. i took some breaks. this seems to be a collection of columns he wrote for a paper, and sometimes he makes me laugh out loud, but other times it seems too familiar: probably because it is. it's like watching a late night talk show where some PA scans the news for funny articles, and then usually jay leno (though sometimes carson appears) make a lot of jokes about them.
i'm very glad i read it but i wonder if he can manage a sustained narrative. i suspect not, and that's okay. he would have been an awesome talk show host. :)