Perhaps 500+ pages of SJ Perelman was too much to try at one go; I gave up on his omnibus yesterday. That's not to say, however, that he's not worth a read. Here are a few choice bits:

The weather is always capricious in the Middle West, and although it was midsummer, the worst blizzard in Chicago's history greeted us on our arrival. The streets were crowded with thousands of newsreel cameramen trying to photograph one another bucking the storm on the Lake Front. It was a novel idea for the newsreels and I wished them well. ...

The run was marked by only one incident out of the ordinary. I had ordered breaded veal cutlet the first evening and my waiter, poking his head into the kitchen, had repeated the order. The cook, unfortunately, understood him to say "dreaded veal cutlet" and resenting the slur, sprang at the waiter with drawn razor. In a few seconds I was the only living remnant of the shambles, and at Topeka I was compelled to wait until a new shambles was hooked on and I proceeded with dinner.