# Is Walter Mitty a well-known character in US culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504 "2013-12-30T19:42:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/41 "2013-12-30T22:46:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Well, I doubt it was originally published on a _website_. Good point. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/42 "2013-12-30T22:48:42Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I’m going with age related. Everyone fifty and older seems to know the character, no one forty or younger is familiar with him. Which reminds me - 15 years ago, if asked if something was well-known in American culture, I could say “I know about it - so it’s well-known.” But now that I’m mumblety-mumble years old, I find that’s no longer true… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/43 "2013-12-30T22:49:14Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Well, I doubt it was originally published on a _website_. > > Good point. Thanks for the link to the short story and sorry for the potshot. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/44 "2013-12-30T22:50:20Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Thanks for the link to the short story and sorry for the potshot. No problem - it made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/45 "2013-12-30T22:52:26Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Not really [quixotic](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quixotic), since Walter Mitty only _dreams_ of being heroic. His life remains mundane and colorless. Ah, yes. That would be an important distinction. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/46 "2013-12-30T23:04:07Z")
If people want a good introduction to Thurber, “Mitty” was included in Thurber’s collection _My World, and Welcome to It_. The collection is remarkably eclectic, with short stories, casuals, travel pieces, and pure silly humor, and includes just about every major aspect of Thurber’s adult writings. I think it’s his finest. It’s also in the “best of” collection, _The Thurber Carnival_, which has even more breadth, including a book of cartoons and his autobiographical _My Life and Hard Times_. There’s the same problem here as in recommending a band. Do you point to a fine album or to the “best of” which wasn’t conceived of as a whole? You can go either way and win. ---
**Author:** ![Domesticated\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@Domesticated\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Domesticated_Primate)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/47 "2013-12-30T23:46:20Z")
I love Thurber. My parents had some of his books. Didnt know about Waldo Kitty. When he had a news program, Keith Olberman used to read a.Thurber story at the end of his Friday show. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/48 "2013-12-31T00:01:57Z")
I read all of Thurber in my late teens and early 20s (so the 1970s) so I’ve known the Mitty character since then. It wasn’t set in our schools of course. I’ve never felt the urge to go back to it, especially since I’ve realised how misogynist much of it is. > [@picunurse](#): > > Not really [quixotic](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quixotic), since Walter Mitty only _dreams_ of being heroic. His life remains mundane and colorless. In the story, thats true. But that’s not the case in the movies, as I understand it (not having seen either)? Some adventurous stuff really does happen to him? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/49 "2013-12-31T00:15:07Z")
I had never read the story, but I had heard of the character as he was referenced in articles and other works. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/50 "2013-12-31T00:27:02Z")
[QUOTE= Ian Dury] Keep your silly ways or throw them out the window The wisdom of your ways, I’ve been there and I know Lots of other ways, what a jolly bad show If all you ever do is business you don’t like Sex and drugs and rock and roll Sex and drugs and rock and roll Sex and drugs and rock and roll Is very good indeed Every bit of clothing ought to make you pretty You can cut the clothing, grey is such a pity I should wear the clothing of Mr. Walter Mitty See my tailor, he’s called Simon, I know it’s going to fit [/QUOTE] I certainly thought it was common knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/51 "2013-12-31T01:33:41Z")
Thurber’s place in the Cultural Literacy pantheon is definitely shrinking. I think it helps that I’m old enough to remember a one-season sitcom called [My World and Welcome To It](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063934/?ref_=nv_sr_1). Also, “A Thurber Carnival” was a staple of high school one-act competitions when I was a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/52 "2013-12-31T02:29:07Z")
I’m 44 and I definitely know who Walter Mitty is. I was in advanced classes in school, but I don’t remember ever reading that Thurber story, though I think we read a different one. I loved loved loved the Danny Kaye movie (saw in on tv several times over the years). I found the Thurber story and then read all the Thurber I could get my hands on. Unfortunatey, when I was discussing the movie with my Fella a couple of years ago, we were dismayed to find out the Danny Kaye version hasn’t been released on DVD. He did use his google-fu to somehow find me a version that retains the english soundtrack but is subtitled in what I’m pretty sure is Korean. (A very sweet Christmas present that year.) I’m hoping that the new movie will lead to the Kaye movie being released. And someone mentioned Marquis in this thread? Oh, I’m swooning over here! I love Marquis even more than Thurber. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/53 "2013-12-31T02:40:34Z")
I think a lot of Thurber’s works are great. The best place to read them these days is the Library of America’s collection of Thurber’s works called _Writings & Drawings_. This volume is edited by Garrison Keillor, which shows how essential many people consider Thurber’s works to be. (When Keillor was at a local signing once, the one thing I talked about when it was my turn in line was my gratitude to him for editing that volume of Thurber’s works.) My favorite of his works are the essays in _Let Your Mind Alone!_. _Fables for Our Time_ is also quite good. Then there are his fantasies (which are mostly aimed at children) like _The Thirteen Clocks_ and _The White Deer_, which are surprisingly free of cynicism for Thurber. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/54 "2013-12-31T03:00:21Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > My favorite of his works are the essays in _Let Your Mind Alone!_. Written in 1937, this may still be the most modern of Thurber’s books. Self-help books of the 1930s sound exactly like self-help books of today. It’s uncanny. One of the real books he spoofs is _Be Glad You’re Neurotic!_, which sounds like the phoniest fake name ever, but was a big hit in 1936. The Big Three of mid-century American humor were Thurber, Robert Benchley, and S. J. Perelman (sort of the way that Asimov, Heinlein,and Clarke are the Big Three of science fiction from that time). I think Benchley and Perelman were flat-out funnier than Thurber ever was, but they were narrow humorists: Thurber had range far outside the standard humor piece and the other two never could break out of that prison (which drove Benchley to fatal alcoholism). ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/55 "2013-12-31T03:26:58Z")
Olbermann was my 1st exposure to Thurber. Though I had heard the name Walter Mitty, I couldn’t describe the plot. 35 y/o Yank, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/56 "2013-12-31T04:32:54Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I’m going with age related. Everyone fifty and older seems to know the character, no one forty or younger is familiar with him. :dubious: I’m 31 and I had to read the short story in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/57 "2013-12-31T05:36:07Z")
25 and I’ve heard of Thurber but not of Walter Mitty. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/58 "2013-12-31T05:53:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’m 48. I never read the Thurber story, nor saw the Danny Kaye movie, but I’d heard of the character, and had a fuzzy knowledge of the gist of the story (i.e., an average guy who daydreams about doing something much bigger). As a non-American, this sums me up too. Except I’m 44. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/59 "2013-12-31T06:09:42Z")
I’m 47, I read the story in high school and lots of other things by Thurber over the years. He was an important figure in American literature in the 20th century and well known enough to be mentioned by Elaine in a Seinfeld episode (when she drew a cartoon for the New Yorker). ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504/60 "2013-12-31T09:05:46Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > I certainly thought it was common knowledge. I think perhaps Walter Mitty may have been better-known 36 years ago, when that song was written. I was born 20 years later than Ian Dury, and I understood the reference at the time, but I wouldn’t like to assume that anyone born since then would. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-walter-mitty-a-well-known-character-in-us-culture/677504.md?page=4)