By George: A Kaufman Collection

by George S. Kaufman

“Few people in our time have created heartier laughter and provided more fun than Mr. Kaufman has,” theatre critic John Mason Brown wrote of George S. Kaufman. “The wisecrack is something he snaps as precisely as a ringmaster his whip.” Kaufman, however, didn’t confine his remarkable talent merely to writing (with Moss Hart) such hit comedies as Once in a Lifetime, You Can’t Take It With You, and The Man Who Came to Dinner — he regularly entertained readers of magazines and newspapers with his unique (if jaundiced) view of modern life. Now, for the first time these short pieces, which originally appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, The Nation, and The New York Times, are collected in one highly amusing volume.

Written over the course of almost four decades, they remain as fresh and funny as when they were written, revealing the wit for which Kaufman justly famous. In all, fifty pieces are reprinted here, raking from short essays to poems and one-act plays, to the complete text of the Marx Brothers’ show, The Cocoanuts. Also included is Hollywood Pinafore, a parody of H.M.S. Pinafore, that remains one of the most hilariously accurate depictions of Hollywood ever written, and Life’s Calendar for 1922 (with Marc Connelly), an irreverent chronology of humanity’s achievements. Four pages of photographs accompany the text.

261 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1979

About the author

People note American playwright George Simon Kaufman for many collaborations, including Dinner at Eight (1932) with Edna Ferber and You Can't Take It with You (1936) with Moss Hart.

This theatre director, theatre producer, humorist, and drama critic, known as "the great collaborator," wrote very few plays alone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...

Reviews

[William]

Old-time comedy collected in a book. There's nothing better to help you forget that COVID exists and that you have work in the morning.

[Chrisanne]

I particularly enjoyed his monthly calendars. Some of his short work was also good. But others were dated enough that they weren't that amusing.

[Kris]

3 1/2 stars.

[Gregory Roth]

I was into reading the works of member of The Algonquin Roundtable several years back but I've always been drawn to Kaufman.

My favorite story was "Annoy Kaufman, Inc."