unearths some literary gems.
From Corey Ford:
***
Cheerfulness was the word for the Vanity Fair offices, though the startled Mr. Nast, peering incredulously through the door, might have preferred the word lunacy. There were the Keene Twins, a pair of dancing sisters who had temporarily deserted musical comedy to work as file clerks. They kept themselves in shape for their profession by doing limbering and stretching exercises besides the water cooler, or pulling out all the top drawers of the files and dancing past the cabinets, kicking the drawers back in place one by one. Sometimes [editor] Crownie, an amateur magician, would call the staff together to demonstrate a new card trick, or vie with his friend John Mulholland at feats of legerdemain involving canaries or coins. Again, all production would be halted while the editor organized an office game of charades...
***
[On a friend named Alison Smith]
Her hands were always in motion, dipping and swerving to accent what she was saying. The only trouble was that the gesture never quite matched the subject. She would form a circle with a thumb and forefinger to illustrate the phrase "My mother..." or make a victory V as she said, "So I went upstairs..." or else remark, "Next summer we're going to Norway," and point vaguely in the direction of the door.
***
[William Faulkner, the first telecommuter?]
After staring blankly at the bare walls of his office for several days, he smuggled a message to Dave Selznick, asking if he might be permitted to work at home instead of coming to the office every day. A couple of weeks later, Selznick decided to confer with him about the progress of the script and phoned his hotel, to be informed that Faulkner had checked out some time previously. A search of all the lodging places in the Los Angeles area failed to disclose any trace. At last a frantic long-distance call located him back in Oxford, Mississippi.
