Author: Frank Sullivan
Date: 1962
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
ISBN: none
Length: 290 pages
Quote: "I settle hash and coin phrases. I beggar description."
These were, of course, only a few tasks in the job description of Frank Sullivan's best-known character, Mr. Arbuthnot the Cliche Expert. Mr. Arbuthnot was a very busy man. The editors put him on the stand ten times in this collection of 35 articles.
Sullivan wrote mostly clean comedy, despite the smutty (and false) suggestion in one piece that a sailor who picks up hookers might be healthier than his high-minded buddies who visit art museums instead. All other articles in this collection are completely G-rated. Cliches were Sullivan's favorite theme, and receive enough attention to satisfy me in the articles that do not feature Mr. Arbuthnot. Other topics joked about in this book include recliner chairs, food vending machines, Sullivan's dislike of venison, and so on.
If you can imagine such a thing as sober, dignified comedy, that's what this book consists of. Well, it was written for men, by a man, in a period when men understood the term "men" as opposite to "boys" and "bums" as well as opposite to "women." You don't have to be a property owner, voter, and taxpayer to enjoy this book, but it helps.
You don't have to remember the 1930s, either, although some of the articles are really historical period pieces. Actually, you don't have to remember any period to enjoy an old book; you have to make notes of what you don't understand, look up topics (or ask people who remember, if any of them are still around), and come back and enjoy the book with understanding. However, it takes more research for me to enjoy Will Rogers' articles, although I do, and it would probably take more research for a younger reader to enjoy Art Buchwald's, than it takes for me to appreciate this book.
That's both good and bad. After doing enough research to appreciate a collection of Will Rogers, you'd have material for a term paper. After doing enough research to appreciate A Pearl in Every Oyster, you'll merely get a few extra chuckles out of reading it.
There is no outline or chronological sequence in this book. Each article was written separately and can be read separately.
The construction of this book left something to be desired. From the outside it resembles one of those Dover paperbacks that lie flat when read and stay bound for years. It's not. My copy already has a cracked spine.
Recommended, nevertheless, to all Sullivan fans, history buffs, nostalgia trippers, and comedy collectors, A Pearl in Every Oyster has reached the collector price range. This web site can offer it for $10 per book + $5 per package + $1 per online payment. Three more books of this size will fit into that $5 package, and most books cost $5, so please browse on.
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