The author of nearly forty books, including essays, short stories, fables, plays, and children's stories, James Thurber (1894-1961) created and acerbic world of beleaguered husbands, domineering women, and fabulous animals; no one before or since has drawn dogs like he did. A native of Columbus, Ohio, he worked as a newspaperman before joining the staff of the New Yorker. A self-proclaimed "painstaking writer who doodles for relaxation," he began his career as a cartoonist when E.B. White, his office mate, rescued his drawings from the trash.