My World-and Welcome to It; by James Thurber.

It is hard not to relax, smile and then start laughing some time later, even completely uncontrollably, when one reads Thurber. His writings are all of a piece, generally giving you a window into his life - or so you come to feel, at home and in a rocker, feet up - and laughing uncontrollably. And it is difficult to remember which story is in which book.

I have a fair certainty that some of my early favourites are in this one, but am not sure which ones. It is worth discovering again though - no matter how many times one has read it.

For instance I think the Great Run, due to a mistaken rumour about a dam broken and the natural consequent flood scare, is part of this book. Only Thurber could make it that funny. And then there is the aunt that went about screwing light bulbs into empty sockets and very certain she was plugging up the leaking electricity. Perhaps this one also has the story of Roy informing his father that the engine had fallen out, using kitchen pots and pans and so on to create a frightening scare.

But even if they are all in another book by Thurber, what I am sure of is having read it and loved it.