How to Be a Hermit, or a Batchelor Keeps House

by Will Cuppy

Book Overview

""How To Be A Hermit: Or A Bachelor Keeps House"" is a humorous and satirical book written by Will Cuppy. The book is a guide on how to live a solitary life and become a hermit or a bachelor, with a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1781391475
• ISBN13: 9781781391471
• Release Date: April 2012
• Publisher: Oxford City Press
• Length: 186 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Hermit of Jones Beach

Will Cuppy was a great humorist. This is not his best book or his funniest, but it is as close as he ever came to writing autobiography. It provides fascinating glimpses into his life during the 1920s, when he was still an obscure and impecunious book reviewer. It was his first successful book, and went through several printings in 1929. It must have profited him because by 1930 he was no longer a hermit; he had a live-in servant, according to the census! The New York Times said that Cuppy was known as the hermit of Jones Beach "because he used to retire to a shack there to brood from time to time." In fact, he brooded there full-time from 1921 to 1929, which should make him an expert. A hermit, said Cuppy, "is simply a person to whom civilization has failed to adjust itself." This book provides all you will need to know, including recipes, housekeeping tips, important information about the history of spinach, and full instructions on how to open a can of beans. His "Cuppy Plan of Motionless Housekeeping" has potential! He tells how to discourage visitors and discusses whether a hermit should keep pets, such as fish or clams, concluding in the negative. Pet fish wound one's vanity past bearing with their complete lack of response. And "the appearance of the clam is all against it for anything approaching intimate relations. For what becomes of high romance when you can't tell whether the small exposed portion of the other party is its foot or its face?" The humor is subtle and probably not for everyone, but if you love Cuppy and can appreciate nuances, don't miss this book.

A Classic of humor and wisdom

Here again we have Will Cuppy at his best. From his discovery of Jones Island to his discourses on spinach and hermitage he always makes us laugh. His humor is gentle and very funny and can be read by any age.

An early work of an unacknowledged master of humor

Will Cuppy always managed to say something funny, no matter what the subject. His humor often was very dry and subtle, and at its best can have you chuckling over some comment for days. This is an early work of his, and his style does not seem fully developed. Nonetheless, you will find many of the unique observations and ways of describing the world (and its inhabitants) that make his later books true masterpieces.This book has a remarkably "modern" feel to it, and will be a revelation to anybody who thinks that books must be topical to pack a punch. This volume, written over 65 years ago, still is remarkably incisive and witty today. Indeed, reviewers of Cuppy's time fell all over themselves trying to find somebody with whom they could compare him. The best most of them could do was cite Mark Twain, but in the final analysis Cuppy has the distinct advantage over him in writing short humorous essays.