American Poetry, Limericks & Verse, U.S. Poets - Literary Biography, U.S. & Canadian Poetry - 20th Century - Literary Criticism

Ogden Nash

Name: Ogden Nash
Author: Douglas M. Parker
ISBN: 9781566636377

by Douglas M. Parker

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Overview

His keen grasp of human nature and a unique style of verse made Ogden Nash, in the mid-twentieth century, the most widely read and frequently quoted poet of his time. For years, readers have longed for a biography to match Nash's charm, wit, and good nature; now we have it in Douglas Parker's absorbing and delightful life of the poet. Intelligent, informative, and engaging.... There is no comparable study not only of Nash's life but also of the role that poetry, especially comic verse, played in modern American literary culture.... A story long overdue in the telling. —Dana Gioia

Synopsis

Candy / Is dandy / But liquor / Is quicker. These inimitable lines could only have been written by Ogden Nash, the American nonpareil of light verse and one of the more remarkable figures in American letters. His keen grasp of human nature and a unique style of verse made him, in the mid-twentieth century, the most widely read and frequently quoted poet of his time. For years, readers have longed for a biography to match Nash's charm, wit, and good nature; now we have it in Douglas Parker's absorbing life of the poet. Mr. Parker has had exclusive access to family letters and diaries, and permission to quote liberally from them and from Nash's poems. He has written a warm and inviting biography of the poet who reveled in whimsy and wordplay, but who was applauded by his more serious contemporaries.

Arkansas Democrate-Gazette

"Parker tells this life story smoothly.... Nash's legion of fans should find themselves satisfied at this total story."

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Editorials

Bookwatch

"Multi-faceted biography covers all aspects...and is a 'must' for any Nash reader. "

Books & Culture

"Parker has done a tremendous service by writing this readable and workmanlike biography-the first biography of Nash, amazingly enough."

Laurie Higgins

"Affectionately honest. "
—Upper Cape Codder

C&RL News

"Parker narrates Nash's accomplishments with careful detail, sprinkling apt verse excerpts throughout to add lyrical detail."

Arkansas Democrate-Gazette

"Parker tells this life story smoothly.... Nash's legion of fans should find themselves satisfied at this total story."

Theresa Barnaby

Richly detailed....[An] affectionate look at Nash's life.
—Tri-City Herald

Bloomberg.com

"Well-researched."

Publishers Weekly

The life of the man who is fondly remembered for his verse "Candy/Is dandy/ But liquor/Is quicker" was often anything but dandy, according to his assiduous biographer. Ogden Nash's (1902-1971) genteel Southern heritage and one year at Harvard (due to his father's financial reverses) provided him with literary aspirations that led him to fear his jaunty, pun-filled, gently satiric verse was not real poetry. Even after acclaim greeted his frequent publication in the New Yorker, finances forced him to leave his beloved (and temperamental) wife and two daughters to go on the road as a lecturer and performer, where he often suffered bouts of intestinal illness and depression. His yearning for a career in musical theater was briefly (if memorably) fulfilled when he provided the lyrics for Kurt Weill's classic "Speak Low." Gratification came from unexpected sources, however, including a lifelong friendship with S.J. Perelman and the praise of W.H. Auden. Parker, a retired lawyer writing with the Nash family's cooperation, provides numerous examples of Nash's distinctive poetry, his wit underscored by gentle social commentary, antic wordplay and rhyme and meter that seemed random but was meticulously composed. Parker's is a useful, highly readable biography of one of America's best-loved poets. Photos. 12 b&w photos not seen by PW. (Apr. 29) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Parker paints a picture of a kind, loving man who made words and wordplay fun and entertaining. Even at the age of 10, Nash possessed a talent and an ability to use language cleverly. In 1930, Nash's poems made their appearance in the New Yorker, and this funny, talented writer became part of a literary landscape that included such luminaries as Dorothy Parker and S. J. Perelman. At first glance, Nash's verses seem simple, and yet they are filled with witty lines and twists on spelling. He liked to write about families, and no one was safe from his gentle satire, not even his beloved wife, Frances. Nash told the truth about the ordinary and, in doing so, endeared himself to a lifetime of readers. Would-be poets and satirists as well as students interested in the artistic milieu of the times will enjoy reading this well-written tribute.-Peggy Bercher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

An authorized, entirely sympathetic account of the wildly popular humorist poet who composed as facilely for the New Yorker as for Hollywood and Hallmark Cards. In his day (1902-71), Nash was America's most prominent purveyor of snappy rhyming verse. Enjoying a fairly privileged childhood in Rye, N.Y., and in Savannah, Ga., where his father ran a prosperous business, he attended private school and then Harvard for a year, dropping out to make his way to New York. He worked at various publishing houses during the Depression, and his poems began to appear regularly in the Saturday Evening Post. His long association with the New Yorker began under Harold Ross and continued until his [Nash's] death; "the restorative Nashian couplet or clarifying stanza" (as Roger Angell described it) attracted just the sort of readership the magazine wanted. Still, Nash struggled to make a living, keep wife Frances in comfort, and raise two daughters, both of whom became talented writer/illustrators. He worked briefly in Hollywood as a screenwriter (without credit) on The Wizard of Oz, and he had some success as a Broadway lyricist, most notably for Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus in 1942. But exhausting reading circuits were more lucrative, though they ruined his health. The tireless Nash also wrote children's books and made frequent appearances on such TV shows as Masquerade Party. Retired lawyer and neophyte biographer Parker's cheery work presents Nash's life as straightforward and blameless-much like his poetry, which gently satirizes family issues, politics, and human foibles. But the author's lack of training in literary history means that his account somewhat scants the ideas and currents that buoyedNash. Perhaps, in the end, a light poet doesn't lend himself to psychoanalysis. The ample quotations from Nash's poetry are certainly a pleasure. Proficiently recognizes and restores an important American voice.