Thurber Book

I read this when it came out, which, I think, was in 1975.
First, the problems with it are that Burton Bernstein reproduces way too many of Thurber's letters in their entirety, most from a time in his life when he showed absolutely no signs of creativity or the humor for which he became famous; Bernstein's disdain for Thurber turns what should be a cautionary tale into an attack and it's about a third too long.
On the upside, Bernstein's inability to weed out insignificant details also allows him to include many important ones. We learn a lot about the daily workings of THE NEW YORKER and about the people NEW YORKER writers met. Thurber's life coincided with a golden age of American writing and the personnel alone make this an interesting book.
I like to compare this to a much shorter and more affectionate biography of Thurber by Charles S. Holmes. It's called THE CLOCKS OF COLUMBUS and really makes the case for Thurber as a hard-working writer. THURBER: A BIOGRAPHY takes Thurber's accomplishments so seriously that Thurber's flaws are magnified.