Category Archives: New York City

Any and all documents and quotes related in any way to the cultural, social, economic, and political life of Five Boroughs of New York City.

The Algonquin Wits: Robert Benchley on Work

Posted on October 25, 2018 | Leave a comment

“Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing.”

Robert Benchley

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged ,

The Algonquin Wits: Harold Ross on Coherence

Posted on September 6, 2018 | Leave a comment

“Ross once stated emphatically to Robert Benchley: ‘Don’t think I’m not incoherent.'”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , ,

The Algonquin Wits: George S. Kaufman on Raymond Massey’s Method Acting

Posted on September 1, 2018 | Leave a comment

“‘Massey won’t be satisfied until he’s assassinated.’ Kaufman remarked about actor Raymond Massey’s heralded performance in Abe Lincoln in Illinois.”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , , , ,

The Algonquin Wits: Ring Lardner on Irvin Cobb

Posted on August 29, 2018 | Leave a comment

“Lardner once visited Paducah to interview Irvin Cobb, later reporting, ‘Mr. Cobb took me into his library and showed me his books, of which he has a complete set.'”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference

Tagged ,

The Algonquin Wits: Robert Benchley Reflects on His Career

Posted on August 9, 2018 | Leave a comment

“It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.”

Robert Benchley

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference

Tagged

The Algonquin Wits: Heywood Broun on Political Orientation

Posted on August 6, 2018 | Leave a comment

“In 1935 Broun made this statement: ‘Nobody need worry any more that Washington is going left. Indeed, nobody need worry that the Washington of today is going anywhere.'”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged

The Algonquin Wits: Edna Ferber on Nobel Laureates and Critics

Posted on August 2, 2018 | Leave a comment

“Speaking about reviewers who seemed unable to render honest, objective critiques on the works of such writers as had won the Nobel Prize, Miss Ferber described them as ‘awestruck by the Nobelity.'”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , ,

The Brooklyn Bridge as Metaphor and Object

Posted on July 17, 2018 | Leave a comment

“A long poem (1930) by the US poet Hart Crane (1899-1932). The work is a Whitmanesque celebration of America, its culture and history, and the image of Brooklyn Bridge acts as a link between past and present, a symbol of imagination and striving:

‘O Sleepless as the river under thee,
Vaulting the sea, the prairies dreaming sod,
Unto us lowliest sometime sweep, descend
And of the curveship lend a myth to God.’
Hart Crane, The Bridge, proem ‘To Brooklyn Bridge’

Brooklyn Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River and so linking Brooklyn and Manhattan Island. It was built in 1869-83, and incorporates a number of impressive technical innovations. With its tough, angular, futuristic structure, it became something of an icon for American modernists, being the subject of semi-abstract paintings by, for example, John Marin (1910-1932) and Joseph Stella (1917-1918). More recently, David and Victoria (‘Posh Spice’) Beckham chose to call their son Brooklyn because he was conceived while they crossed the bridge.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , , , ,

The Algonquin Wits: George S. Kaufman to Herbert Bayard Swope at Dinnertime

Posted on July 10, 2018 | Leave a comment

“Herbert Bayard Swope, who had a penchant for dining at odd hours, called G.S.K. one evening at 9:30 one evening and asked, ‘What are you doing for dinner this evening?’

‘I’m digesting it,’ Kaufman replied.”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, New York City, Quotes

Tagged , ,

The Algonquin Wits: Heywood Broun Completes a Questionnaire

Posted on July 9, 2018 | Leave a comment

“One morning, finding a self-analysis questionnaire on his desk, Broun included some of the questions in that day’s column:

‘What is my occupation? Newspaperman.’

‘Am I making a success of it? There seems to be a decided difference of opinion.’

‘What is my character and reputation? Unreliable and charming.’

‘What do other men think of me? Unreliable.’

‘What do I think of myself? Charming.’

‘Am I cleanly? Very much so in the summer.’

‘Punctual? No.’

‘Courteous? To a fault.

‘Have I any object in life? Yes, I want to be a writer.’

‘Am I on my way? Not precipitately.'”

Excerpted from: Drennan, Robert E., ed. The Algonquin Wits. New York: Kensington, 1985.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, New York City, Quotes, Reference

Tagged , ,