Rating: 
Summary: A Funny Little Book
Review: "Archy and Mehitabel" is a strange, funny little book. Drawing from the conversational poetry found in books like Edgar Lee Masters "Spoon River Anthology," Marquis uses a colloquial style which not only suits his characters, but works in a poem. Lots of laughs, some decent writing, and a tasty way to spend a Saturday afternoon.Talking animals are easy to find in literature. Good ones, like a cat and a cockroach of this caliber, are not. Marquis brings humanity by allowing his animals to stay animals. Spiders still are poisonous, rats are still threatening, and cockroaches have never been able to type the capital letters on a typewriter. Marquis pushes reality, keeping his characters grounded in truth (OK, he fudges with truth a lot, but don't let that stop you). While filled with humorous tales, moments are sad, like in the ninth poem, "freddy the rat perishes." Dear Freddy has a run in with a spider who is up to no good. In a valiant struggle, a tough South American spider ("raised on red pepper and blood" and "nursed on tabasco sauce") Freddy is killed while saving his friends. Freddy ate some poisoned cheese the night before and let the spider bite him, knowing he had nothing to lose. After it was over, Archy and Mehitabel dropped Freddy "off the fire escape into the alley with/military honors". Despite the whole premise being ridiculous, a tear might well up. Children will love being read the stories, and younger teens may find poetry readable (before you send them on to Keats and Byron!). Great, funny pictures, completely in the context of each poem-tale. I fully recommend this book. Anthony Trendl
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest!
Review: "archie & mehitabel" is one of the wisest,funniest and most entertaining books of the 20th century, especially with the George Herriman illustrations which perfectly complement Don Marquis.
Rating:
Summary: A Funny Little Book
Review: "Archy and Mehitabel" is a strange, funny little book. Drawing from the conversational poetry found in books like Edgar Lee Masters "Spoon River Anthology," Marquis uses a colloquial style which not only suits his characters, but works in a poem. Lots of laughs, some decent writing, and a tasty way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Talking animals are easy to find in literature. Good ones, like a cat and a cockroach of this caliber, are not. Marquis brings humanity by allowing his animals to stay animals. Spiders still are poisonous, rats are still threatening, and cockroaches have never been able to type the capital letters on a typewriter. Marquis pushes reality, keeping his characters grounded in truth (OK, he fudges with truth a lot, but don't let that stop you). While filled with humorous tales, moments are sad, like in the ninth poem, "freddy the rat perishes." Dear Freddy has a run in with a spider who is up to no good. In a valiant struggle, a tough South American spider ("raised on red pepper and blood" and "nursed on tabasco sauce") Freddy is killed while saving his friends. Freddy ate some poisoned cheese the night before and let the spider bite him, knowing he had nothing to lose. After it was over, Archy and Mehitabel dropped Freddy "off the fire escape into the alley with/military honors". Despite the whole premise being ridiculous, a tear might well up. Children will love being read the stories, and younger teens may find poetry readable (before you send them on to Keats and Byron!). Great, funny pictures, completely in the context of each poem-tale. I fully recommend this book. Anthony Trendl
Rating:
Summary: Can a cat and a cockroach be friends?
Review: A number of years ago, my college drama department performed a musical, theater-in-the-round version of "archy and mehitabel." It delighted the audience with Archy's lower-case, cockroach philosophies and Mehitabel's wildcat antics. The book by don marquis is equally charming, revealing the human condition--no matter what the species! Especially humorous are chapters vii and xxxiv, "archie interviews a pharaoh" and "archie hears from mars."
Rating:
Summary: Can a cat and a cockroach be friends?
Review: A number of years ago, my college drama department performed a musical, theater-in-the-round version of "archy and mehitabel." It delighted the audience with Archy's lower-case, cockroach philosophies and Mehitabel's wildcat antics. The book by don marquis is equally charming, revealing the human condition--no matter what the species! Especially humorous are chapters vii and xxxiv, "archie interviews a pharaoh" and "archie hears from mars."
Rating:
Summary: Enlightened cats, cockroaches, spiders and rats
Review: Any cat lover who's never been exposed to these yarns from a newspaper columnist is in for a rare treat. A parrot reincarnated from the Bard demeans his own plays, "I knew what the lowbrows wanted and I gave it to them. All I ever wanted to be was a good sonneteer!" Evidently, all newspaper columnist Marquis ever wanted to be was a sage of human wisdom communicating his astute observations of human behavior through the eyes of a cat reincarnated from Cleopatra, a cockroach and a menagerie of other beautiful non-humans. I've had three cats named Mehitabel over the past 40 years as a consequence of reading Marquis at too young an age. Naturally each of those felines was reincarnated from a Mehitabel created by the mind of Don Marquis. Buy this book even if you hate cats.
Rating:
Summary: Enlightened cats, cockroaches, spiders and rats
Review: Any cat lover who's never been exposed to these yarns from a newspaper columnist is in for a rare treat. A parrot reincarnated from the Bard demeans his own plays, "I knew what the lowbrows wanted and I gave it to them. All I ever wanted to be was a good sonneteer!" Evidently, all newspaper columnist Marquis ever wanted to be was a sage of human wisdom communicating his astute observations of human behavior through the eyes of a cat reincarnated from Cleopatra, a cockroach and a menagerie of other beautiful non-humans. I've had three cats named Mehitabel over the past 40 years as a consequence of reading Marquis at too young an age. Naturally each of those felines was reincarnated from a Mehitabel created by the mind of Don Marquis. Buy this book even if you hate cats.
Rating:
Summary: when newspaper columns were poetry
Review: archy (or is it don marquis)
is a greater poet
than the critics admit
think of e.e. cummings
did he suffer so by diving
headfirst on to the typewriter keys
but he probably knew archy
from some greenwich village
coffeehouse
amazing to think these poems
were newspaper columns
when a column meant a column
straight down the inky newsprint
archy's words staining fingers
the newspaper column had a golden age
alas it is gone poor archy
and now i too have a headache
Rating:
Summary: Found in a college mailbox
Review: Archy and Mehitabel came into my college mailbox over and over again back in the early 40s. I was being courted by a fellow journalism classmate, who began typing sections from Marquis' book and sending them to me anonymously through the college post office. Occasionally, he alternated Archy with red roses. We worked together on the college publication, twice a week, for three years. And eventually married. Just last night our son, now 51, and I were recalling the book, which I had not seen (or even thought about for many years). The copy of the hardback which he gave me has long since vanished from my shelves, much to my dismay. That seems to happen to all my most favorite books! My son opened his laptop and found this familiar old "odd couple" at amazon.com, alive and doing well after all these years. I'm ordering a new copy tonight! Thanx amazon.com!
Rating:
Summary: This book contains the closest thing to a meaning of life.
Review: archy and mehitabel is one of the most beautiful and life affirming novels I've ever read. It's pretty much a book of beautiful fables written in perfect simplicity. The only other books i've read that express so much so simply are the Little Prince, The Giving Tree, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, and the works of Doctor Seuss. This book will make you a better person. You will not be disappointed.
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