Archys Life Of Mehitabel
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: Wear and tear
Pages: Tanning and foxing , price clipped
Markings: No markings
A beloved classic of American humorous literature, Archy's Life of Mehitabel chronicles the rollicking adventures of Mehitabel, a free-spirited alley cat who claims to have been Cleopatra in a past life, as narrated by Archy, a cockroach poet who types his free-verse dispatches by hurling himself at the keys of a typewriter one letter at a time. Don Marquis presents this witty and irreverent world with a sharp satirical edge, using his unlikely duo to lampoon human pretension, bohemian romanticism, and the absurdities of modern life. The verse is rendered entirely in lowercase — a charming consequence of Archy's inability to operate the shift key — giving the work a distinctive visual style that mirrors its unconventional spirit. Beneath the comedy, Marquis illustrates a surprisingly poignant philosophy: Mehitabel's defiant cry of toujours gai in the face of hardship captures a bittersweet resilience that elevates the work far beyond mere comic verse. This timeless collection remains a treasure of American wit, as sharp and soulful today as when it first appeared in Marquis's newspaper columns.
Author: Don Marquis
Format: Hardback
Published: 1934, faber & faber limited
Genre: Humour
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: Wear and tear
Pages: Tanning and foxing , price clipped
Markings: No markings
A beloved classic of American humorous literature, Archy's Life of Mehitabel chronicles the rollicking adventures of Mehitabel, a free-spirited alley cat who claims to have been Cleopatra in a past life, as narrated by Archy, a cockroach poet who types his free-verse dispatches by hurling himself at the keys of a typewriter one letter at a time. Don Marquis presents this witty and irreverent world with a sharp satirical edge, using his unlikely duo to lampoon human pretension, bohemian romanticism, and the absurdities of modern life. The verse is rendered entirely in lowercase — a charming consequence of Archy's inability to operate the shift key — giving the work a distinctive visual style that mirrors its unconventional spirit. Beneath the comedy, Marquis illustrates a surprisingly poignant philosophy: Mehitabel's defiant cry of toujours gai in the face of hardship captures a bittersweet resilience that elevates the work far beyond mere comic verse. This timeless collection remains a treasure of American wit, as sharp and soulful today as when it first appeared in Marquis's newspaper columns.