Word: drollness
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...such; but in quantity they become sheer madness. Or induce it. "The 20th century has never recovered from the effects of Marx and Freud." (V.G.); "But whether or not this is a good thing or a bad things is difficult to say." (A.E.) Now one such might be droll enough. But by the dozen? This, the quantitative aspect of grading--we are, after all, getting $5 a head for you dolls and therefore pile up as many of you apiece as many of you apiece as we can get--this is what too many of you seem to forget. "Coleridge...
Mortimer describes better Felix's normal habitat when he is not being tried for murder, the circle of literary lions who lunch and speak and tour to promote their books. The formalities of the book-touring circuit seem deliciously droll when dripping from Mortimer's pen, and the occasional appearances of Sandra Tantamount, Felix's chief rival within his publishing house, furnish a comic garnish to a sometimes somber book. Felix's hapless adventures on tour and his constant, futile pursuit of his publicist illuminate Felix's personality even as they entertain...
...both Theban wise men and comic duo. Their stichomythic exchanges even suggests lighthearted pastoral, but both are still capable of a rich gravity. I only thought that Cadmus' portentous admonition to Pentheus (of the fate of Acteon, ripped apart by his own hounds-Cadmus' own great-nephew!) was too droll...
...Daan, stands out in the play's showiest role: her Mrs. Van Daan is an irrepressible chatterer, energetically discussing her flirtatious past and the superior quality of her potato latkes, but she's also worldly-wise--a popular characterization of a Jewish mother. Austin Pendleton makes Mr. Dussel both droll and sympathetic. As Otto Frank, George Hearn does come across as a caring and protective father figure, but one oddly formal with his family: his diction is too consistently calm and collected, in a situation of such tremendous pressure, to be convincing. Sophie Hayden, as Mrs. Frank, also lacks emotional...
Sometimes Delbanco seems almost to have written drama or stand-up comedy--many of his phrases would sound droll if read aloud in a performance. Delbanco, a colleague of Ballard's, writes, had had a marriage that "had gone on the rocks because of the rocks in his glass. The ones that he covered with Scotch...