This ad, taken from the back matter in a 1920 edition of The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, proclaims that reading is “the greatest pleasure in life.” The reason, we are told, is because reading lets us escape our awful lives without having to get any exercise. Sounds good.

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The Fortean Society was founded by writer Tiffany Thayer in 1931, to promote the work of Charles Fort. By sheerest coincidence, two of its founding members, Ben Hecht and Alexander Woollcott, contributed to the same anthology, Nonsenseorship, back in 1922. They both wrote essays decrying censorship, and were duly caricatured by Ralph Barton. Here, then, […]

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Happy New Year! I’m turning 60, and will mark the occasion with a program of my songs and instrumental music at the magnificent Jalopy Theater. I will be on uke, keyboard, and vocals; I will be joined by Doug Roesch on guitar and Ralph Hamperian on tuba. Come hear selections from my long and unusual […]

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