The Best of Archy and Mehitabel

Genius. Pure genius. I savored 'Archy and Mehitabel'; read every last word. From the insightful introductory essay by E.B. White, to the scratchy pen illustrations by George Herriman of 'Krazy Kat and Ignatz' fame, to the final poem by Don Marquis, the whole thing filled me with glee. Marquis was a newspaper reporter during and after WWI, and these vers libre poems were published in the New York Sun between 1916 and the early 1920s. The humor is timeless, but they are steeped in the mood and pol [...]

An American gem -- original, humorous, will probably always have readers.

I really wanted to like this book, for several reasons:> It came highly recommended by people I know as well as reviews online.> I enjoy a vast variety of poetry, and this looked along the lines of one of my favorites, Ogden Nash (humorous blank verse).> The illustrations looked charming (particularly since I'm a fan of "Mutts")> I even liked the cheerful yellow cover and the small binding. Nothing to judge a book on, to be sure, but a pretty package always is a plus when I own a boo [...]

I collect poetry via Everyman’s Library Pocket Poetry. I’d never seen nor heard of this title before until visiting San Francisco’s City Lights Book Store. These are more stories than poems, written by Archy, a cockroach who lives in the author’s typewriter. We hear the adventures of archy (he can’t hold two typewriter keys down at the same time, so nothing is capitalized) and mehitabel, the cat (who was Cleopatra in a former life.) The verse was written between 1916-1937, and holds up [...]

What a JOY this was to read! A collection of short stories from the previous turn of the century that capture the zeitgeist of the time. And lest we think our time is so unique, many of the issues and concerns of the day translate well to that time nearly a century ago.

THE BEST OF ARCHY AND MEHITABEL. (2011). Don Marquis. ****.This edition was put out by Everyman’s Library as one of their Pocket Poets series. The selections span the years of Marquis’ output of poems written for his column in The New York Sun from 1923 to 1934 – although no dates are attributed to the selections. If you haven’t come across Archy, the cockroach, and his friend Mehitabel, the alley cat with pretensions, this small book will quickly bring you up to snuff. It contains an in [...]