A comprehensive collection of the American humorist’s best work—including “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”—plus original drawings and a chronology of Thurber’s own troubled life   James Thurber, whimsical fantasist and deadpan chronicler of everyday absurdities, brought American humor into the 20th century. His comic persona, a modern city-dweller whose zaniest flights of free association are tinged with anxiety, remains hilarious, subtly disturbing, and instantly recognizable.   Here, in over 1,000 pages, editor Garrison Keillor presents the best and most extensive collection ever assembled. Pieces include “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “The Catbird Seat,” the brilliantly satirical  Fables for Our Time , the classic  My Life and Hard Times , and the best of  The Owl in the Attic ,  Let Your Mind Alone! ,  My World—And Welcome to It , and the other famous books. Plus 500 wonderful drawings, including  The Seal in the Bedroom  and celebrated sequences like “The Masculine Approach” and “The War Between Men and Women.” Rounding out the volume is a selection from  The Years with Ross , a memoir of the  New Yorker  publisher, and a number of wonderful early pieces never collected by Thurber.   Only a book of this scope can do justice to Thurber’s extraordinary career and to the many unexpected turns of his comic genius.    LIBRARY OF AMERICA  is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.