S. J. Perelman
Read more on The New Yorker →35 picks · 1937–1977
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Several months ago writer was in the basement workshop of a bootmaker in London's West End. Tells about his conversation with the proprietor, Mr. …
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The play begins with two quotations from the "Los Angeles Times," one, about dress designer Diane Von Furstenberg, the other, about Ron Talsky, a Hollywood…
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This story is preceded by an excerpt from the London Times about a cloth that has been produced with gold thread. / Prince Florizel of Bohemia, and his …
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Writer tells about his steaming t rip down the Persian Gulf on the S.S. Choleria, dreaming about the delicatessen food of Manhattan, for which the …
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Writer discovered an old copy of Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days" in a tool shed on his farm in Pa. He decides to reread the book. He …
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Short story about the physical hazards of show business. Writer mentions two examples that appeared in newspaper articles & tells about "Pousse-Cafe", a …
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The author sympathizes with an Englishwoman he read about in a letter in the London "Times" who has trouble getting her au pairs, girls imported from the …
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When the author was a teenager he worked Saturdays for 6 months at a dept. store. He submitted to pranks by the shoe salesmen, became exhausted by toting …
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In Hollywood a cluster of hotel bungalows on Sunset Boulevard called the Garden of Allah was built by Russian actress Alla Nazimova in the twenties. Orgies…
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Story inspired by London Times article about the discovery of truffles in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana, formerly Bechuanaland. The author had met Monk …
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This story was inspired by 2 news items, one describing an allergic reaction to work, and the other warning of an epidemic of work addiction. The narrator …
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A British art critic encounters a nouveau-riche American lady while covering a Post-Impressionist Exhibition in Paris. He ridicules her pronunciation of …
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The narrator is pressagent for the play, "Let's Skip Dinner" which Ned Bluestone is producing. When he tells Bluestone the play flopped in Boston, …
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The writer had lunch with Barney Bienstock, a TV actor. Barney & his wife were about to rent an apartment in the Casa Modiglianai, a new dwelling on First …
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S. J. Perelman’s parody of Helen Gurley Brown's “Sex and the Single Girl.”
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Exchange of letters between author & Stanley Merlin, owner of Busy Bee Cleaners, inspired by an article which Mr. P. read in The Times on advice of Rose …
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The writer's wife made a chance remark about wanting garnet earrings, so when he was in London, after a long stay abroad, he tried to buy them for her.…
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The tenants at the Aragon apartment house were told it was being torn down and they'd have to move. They hired a lawyer and began a serious protest. …
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The writer heard that Lamu, an old Arab port on the Indian Ocean, was one of the most idyllic spots on earth & decided to visit it, although it was almost …
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The author, with a weak stomach from the beginning, joins a safari. In Garissa he meets the rest of the party, Mr. & Mrs. Forepaugh of San Diego, intent on…
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An account of the author's trip to Zanzibar aboard an Arab dhow, sailing on the Indian Ocean, from the coast of Kenya. He is warned by an Englishman …
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In the May-June issue of Journal of Heredity (1952) the writer read an article, "The Score of the Colleges". It said that in the last 35 years there has …
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Review of "The Dancin' Fool", an old movie starring Wallace Reid. The writer saw it recently at the Museum of Modern Art. It brought to mind his high …
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The writer recalls his thrill as a young boy in seeing "Male and Female", an old Cecil DeMille movie with Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan and Lila Lee. He …
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The writer, reading through "Variety", comes to the conclusion that the movies are doing badly. Possibly it is due to the pressure put on patrons to buy …
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The writer recollects reading books about Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer, as an adolescent. He was badly frightened by them. He discovers his young daughter …
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The writer re-reads "Wife of the Centaur" by Cyril Hume, which he originally read 20 years ago while a student at Brown University. He burns anew at its …
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The author takes excerpts from the New York Times and from an article by Brian P. Flanagan, M.C., in the Current Medical Digest for March. The former to …
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Some of the music and lyrics for Michael Todd's revue "Peep Show" were written by Bhumibol, King of Thailand. This inspires the writer to do an …
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The writer thinks about his first trip to Europe in 1927, and rereads a best seller of that time: "The Madonna of the Sleeping Cars" by Maurice Dekobra. …
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Inspired by the Fruit-of-the-Month Club, which sends a different fruit each month to its members, a man decides there ought to be a service which sends out…
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On Armand Brigaud's "Killers on Safari", a story which appeared in a pulp magazine called "Jungle Stories."
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"How to take a bath" is a canvass made by the Harper's Bazaar of seven distinguished ladies-Maureen Orcott, Ina Claire, Doro thy Draper, Cornelia Otis …
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(Note Found In An Empty Stomach Off Santa Barbara) At the Best Drug Stores in Los Angeles the writer dined off an avocado sandwich on whole wheat and a …