Word: humorous
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...faith in good morals; but New York gave us our tolerance, Pennsylvania our faith in justice, the South our proud independence, the Middle West our practical realism, the Far West our belief in the impossible. Spice all this with a flavor of cynicism and humanitarianism from the Jews, humor and hotheadedness from the Irish, sex and sophistication from the French and sentimentality and love of comfort from the old-fashioned Germans, and you have a rough outline of essential Americanism. It is a lot bigger than anything that ever happened in poor little New England...
...second. His style is breezy, formless, effective. Like Sinclair Lewis' books, Lower than Angels is remarkable for its accumulation of commonplace social history, and for its unsparing honesty. It is sometimes little more than a catalogue of impressions, saved from tedium and pretentiousness by Karig's humor. Marvin Lang has all the characteristics of Babbitt. He is smug, ambitious, self-righteous, calculating. Unlike Babbitt, he has a mean streak, especially in his relations with women. His life is actually harsher than Babbitt's was. But his enjoyment of his stale jokes is genuine; his faith...
...sense of humor about his total baldness. Once, when he commanded the 30th Division, he ordered all his officers to get strict ¾-inch haircuts."Look," he said, snatching off his cap, "I wouldn't order you to do anything I wouldn't do myself." As a young officer, Simpson served the usual tours of duty- Mexican border, Texas, the Philippines. He fought in World War I, was awarded the D.S.M., the Sil ver Star, the French Legion of Honor and the Croix de guerre. In 1925 he was graduated with distinction from the Command and General Staff...
...Jubilee grows impatient with Rove when he neglects his new farm because he has heard the call to preach. The story of how Rove finally wins over Jubilee by driving Abner to the sinners' bench at pistol point is a slight but colorful description of Ozark manners, with humor and charm for the sympathetic reader...
...solid note of Bankhead innuendo; Joan Shopard, recently of "Tomorrow the World," nearly steals several scenes as Happy, Sophic's quipping adopted daughter. During the rare moments when wit is forgotten and Barry's heady continuity fumbles, Miss Shepard comes to the rescue with extremely competent timing and humor sense for a performer of her years. Once or twice in the opening act her precocity becomes a little too precocious, but John Wilson's able directing never lets more than such very minor matters get out of hand...