Several months ago, I discovered that Nathaniel Benchley (author of a Ghost Called Fred and Sam the Minuteman) was indeed the son of Robert Benchley. I also discovered that he put together a collection of his father's essays. And I also bought that collection and began reading it.
The Foreword of this book serves as a forewarning -- Do not read this book all at once. Parcel it out and read it in between other books, and it works rather like a sorbet.
Some of the essays are dated, which is not really a surprise considering he lived in an era when men did wear bowler hats and not ironically. Other essays are timeless. All are very funny. Benchley, compared to Dorothy Parker, has a gentle wit. His wit is every bit as sharp as Parker's, but the subject of the wit will laugh as well as the audience.
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