Thurber was born in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 1894, the middle of three sons. When he was six, his brother accidentally shot him in the eye with an arrow, leaving him blind in that eye.

Thurber attended public school in Columbus, and then Ohio State University, where he was a bright but careless student who earned low grades and was rather unpopular. He wrote humorous pieces for the campus newspaper and literary magazine, but left college in 1918 without a degree. He worked as a code clerk, and then as a reporter, columnist, and correspondent for various newspapers before settling in New York in 1926.

After dozens of rejections, he finally had an article accepted by the New Yorker, and soon was hired as staff writer. He had the good fortune to share an office with E. B. White, who was the first to appreciate Thurber's drawings; Thurber later...