We bring you something different this week. It's a bit of vintage black humor from the great humorist Robert Benchley. There's not a lot of black humor in his 1922 book Love Conquers All - though there's plenty of other funny stuff - but Family Life In America has some of the darker bits you're likely to encounter. Enjoy it.
Family Life In America
by Robert Benchley
The naturalistic literature of this country has reached such a state that no family of characters is considered true to life which does not include at least two hypochondriacs, one sadist, and one old man who spills food down the front of his vest. If this school progresses, the following is what we may expect in our national literature in a year or so.
The living-room in the Twillys' house was so damp that thick, soppy moss grew all over the walls. It dripped on the picture of Grandfather Twilly that hung over the melodeon, making streaks down the dirty glass like sweat on the old man's face. It was a mean face. Grandfather Twilly had been a mean man and bad little spots of soup on the lapel of his coat. All his children were mean and had soup spots on their clothes.
Read more at Project Gutenberg.
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