James Thurber was one of the finest humorists of the twentieth century (and a crack cartoonist to boot). The Thurber Carnival captures the depth of his talent and the breadth of his wit. The stories compiled here, almost all of which first appeared in The New Yorker , are from his uproarious and candid collection My World and Welcome to It —including the American classic "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"—as well as from The Owl in the Attic , The Seal in the Bathroom , and Men, Women and Dogs .