Order of Book Series
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James Thurber Books in Order

56 books are credited to James Thurber, published between 1921 and 2019; 26 of them appeared after James Thurber's death in 1961. The first book is Oh My, Omar! A Musical Comedy (1921) and the newest is Collected Fables (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
56
Published
1921–2019
Pages on record
4,004 in 16 of 56 books
See all 56 books in order Printable James Thurber checklist
Photo of James Thurber, author

James Thurber was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright who lived from 1894 to 1961. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Thurber studied at Ohio State University, worked in Paris as a code clerk for the US State Department, reported for the Columbus Dispatch, and joined The New Yorker in 1927. Is Sex Necessary?, written with E. B. White, parodies serious psychological books about sex. 56 catalogued books run from 1921 to a 2019 Collected Fables, with the 1950s the busiest decade. The median title runs 212 pages.

How many James Thurber books are there?

James Thurber has 56 books, released between 1921 and 2019. 26 of them were published after James Thurber's death in 1961. They include 3 series and 50 titles listed outside any series.

James Thurber Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 56 James Thurber books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Last Flower by James Thurber (1939)
  2. Cover of The Male Animal by James Thurber (1941)
  3. Cover of Many Moons by James Thurber (1942)
  4. Cover of The Catbird Seat by James Thurber (1942)
  5. Cover of My World, and Welcome to It by James Thurber (1942)
  6. Cover of Thurber Country by James Thurber (1946)
  7. Cover of The Thurber album by James Thurber (1952)
  8. Cover of Further Fables for Our Time by James Thurber (1956)
  9. Cover of Lanterns & Lances by James Thurber (1961)
  10. Cover of Thurber : A Biography by James Thurber (1975)
  11. Cover of The Night the Ghost Got in by James Thurber, book 1 of the Creative Classic series (1983)
  12. Cover of The Works of James Thurber by James Thurber (1986)
  13. Cover of Thurber On Crime by James Thurber (1992)
  14. Cover of People Have More Fun Than Anybody by James Thurber (1994)
  15. Cover of Better To Have Loafed And Lost by James Thurber (2002)
  16. Cover of The Tiger Who Would be King by James Thurber (2015)
  1. 1
    Oh My, Omar! A Musical Comedy1921 · confirmed 1/4
    1921–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Is Sex Necessary?1929 · 190 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1929190
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Owl In The Attic And Other Perplexities1931 · confirmed 1/4
    1931–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Middle-Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze1935 · confirmed 1/4
    1935–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Let Your Mind Alone1937 · confirmed 1/4
    1937–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    How To Raise a Dog in the City and in the Suburbs1938 · confirmed 1/4
    1938–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Last Flower1939 · 112 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1939112
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated1940 · confirmed 1/4
    1940–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Male Animal1941 · confirmed 1/4
    1941–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Many Moons1942 · confirmed 1/4
    1942–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Catbird Seat1942 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    194232
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    My World, and Welcome to It1942 · confirmed 1/4
    1942–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Thurber Carnival1942 · confirmed 1/4
    1942–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Men, Women and Dogs1943 · confirmed 1/4
    1943–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The White Deer1945 · confirmed 1/4
    1945–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Mixture for MenJames Thurber as Illustrator #11946 · confirmed 1/4
    1946–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Thurber Country1946 · 276 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1946276
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    My Life and Hard Times1948 · confirmed 1/4
    1948–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Seal in the Bedroom and Other Predicaments1950 · confirmed 1/4
    1950–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The 13 Clocks1950 · confirmed 1/4
    1950–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Beast in Me and Other Animals1950 · 340 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1950340
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Thurber album1952 · 316 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1952316
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Thurber on Humor1953 · confirmed 1/4
    1953–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    A Thurber Garland1955 · confirmed 1/4
    1955–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Wonderful O1955 · confirmed 1/4
    1955–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Thurber's Dogs1955 · confirmed 1/4
    1955–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Further Fables for Our Time1956 · 174 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1956174
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    Alarms and Diversions1957 · confirmed 1/4
    1957–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    The Years with Ross1959 · confirmed 1/4
    1959–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Lanterns & Lances1961 · 215 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1961215
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

James Thurber books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

James Thurber as Illustrator in order

3 books
  1. 1. Mixture for Men
  2. 2. Dogs That Have Known Me and Other Waggish Tales
  3. 3. In a Word

Vintage Thurber in order

2 books
  1. 1. Vintage Thurber: Volume 1
  2. 2. Vintage Thurber: Volume 2

Creative Classic in order

1 book
  1. 1. The Night the Ghost Got in

Standalone books

50 books

50 James Thurber titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read James Thurber books in order?

You only need to read James Thurber books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with James Thurber

Start with Oh My, Omar! A Musical Comedy (1921), the earliest published title.

What is the newest James Thurber book?

Collected Fables (2019) is the newest James Thurber book released so far.

Is there a new James Thurber book coming?

No next James Thurber book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Award nominations for James Thurber

Wikidata records 1 nomination for James Thurber. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Nobel Prize in Literature1960Shortlisted

James Thurber at a glance

Died
James Thurber died in 1961, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to James Thurber are still being published after James Thurber's death in 1961; the newest appeared in 2019.
Release pace
James Thurber books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
4,004 pages across the 16 of 56 books with a recorded length, a median of 212 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most James Thurber books, 11 of 56, were published in the 1950s.

What the James Thurber books are about

18 of the 56 James Thurber books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: humor is tagged on 7 of 18. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.