The book was published the year of his divorce and remarriage.

The Middle-Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze has several short stories with a tense undercurrent of marital discord. Among his other classics are The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Catbird Seat, A Couple of Hamburgers, The Greatest Man in the World, If Grant Had Been Drinking at Appomattox. His best-known short stories are 'The Dog That Bit People' and 'The Night the Bed Fell' they can be found in My Life and Hard Times, which was his 'break-out' book. Many of his short stories are humorous fictional memoirs from his life, but he also wrote darker material, such as 'The Whip-Poor-Will', a story of madness and murder. In collaboration with his college friend, Elliott Nugent, he wrote the Broadway comedy, The Male Animal, later adapted into a film, which starred Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland. One of the most popular humorists of his time, Thurber celebrated the comic frustrations and eccentricities of ordinary people. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in The New Yorker magazine and collected in his numerous books. James Grover Thurber (Decem– November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, author, journalist, playwright, and celebrated wit.

Stoughton opera house opened