Excuse It, Please! by Cornelia Otis Skinner

A lot of people know and love Our Hearts Were Young and Gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimbrough, but fewer people have gone on to discover Cornelia Otis Skinner’s collections of humorous short sketches. When I was in America in 2015, I ordered a whole heap of them to my friend’s apartment – because they’re much easier to find in the US than in the UK. But I didn’t get Excuse It, Please! (1936) – and yet, here it is, and that is because Lisa May very, very kindly sent me a copy! That was also in 2015, but every book has its correct moment and, in 2022, Excuse It, Please! found its time had come.

(Sidenote: isn’t the cover wonderful?)

The title comes from the opening sketch – which seems a better term than ‘story’ or ‘essay’, though they could equally be called that. Each is a scene from Skinner’s life, probably rather exaggerated and fictionalised, usually telling a self-deprecating foible of mid-century middle-class life. And the first sketch is about trying to get through to a required company on a telephone call, back when all such calls had to go through a telephone operator. The connections go awry.

“Is this 51?” I asked.

“Hello,” came again.

“When’s the next ferry from New London?” I inquired.

“How the hell should I know?”

“Aren’t you the ferry?” I faltered.

“What d’ya mean am I a ferry? This is Billy’s Garage in Goodground.”

And the title comes from the hapless operator asking Skinner to ‘excuse it, please’ – rather than ‘excuse me’. It’s not the biggest punchline in the world, and perhaps might only make a passing anecdote in everyday life, but that is Skinner’s brilliance. She can take the mundane and delve into the hidden ridiculous. She is always the butt of the joke, but she laughs with the reader.

The topics in this book might be everyday, but perhaps only for a certain sort of class of person. She doesn’t talk about an office job or housework, but rather about learning to ride a horse, sitting for a portrait, and being asked to sit on the captain’s table when on a ship. It’s a glimpse into another time and another world, so she manages to combine a sense of the quotidian (for her) and the exotic (for us – or at least for me). It is a delightful mixture, and I suspect her life would have felt quite alien even for quite a few of her contemporary readers.

While she is ultimately always the one we are being encouraged to laugh at, that doesn’t mean that nobody else gets a dose of dry humour. The opening to ‘Seeing stars’ is a case in point:

Of the many varieties of bore one of the worst I know is the person who wants to point out the stars and constellations. This is a form of midsummer pest which, like the sand flea, tends to ruin beach parties.

I cannot help but keep quoting, forgive me… this is on the next page:

He singles me out from a group of ordinary picnickers with the infallibility of the compass pointing out the magnetic pole. Were this individual possessed of any particular allure, I should not at all mind; or were his intensions bordering on the carnal, there might be a little less ennui. But he is generally the kind of man who wears rubbers and belongs to drama societies, and his intentions are purely astronomical.

“Have you noticed how clear the stars are?” he begins.

I have been noticing this phenomenon with dread and secretly praying for fog ever since I have been aware of his approach. But I answer “Yes, aren’t they?” with a politeness that I hope is frigid.

At this point, you know this is either your sort of thing or not. It perfectly chimes with my sense of humour and I can’t get enough of it. If you’re the same, then you can seek out more or less anything by Skinner. I’m very grateful that Lisa May sent me this one, so that I can spend some happy hours immersed in it.

14 thoughts on “Excuse It, Please! by Cornelia Otis Skinner

  • September 28, 2022 at 9:17 pm
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    Terribly funny quotes! Can we talk about the stars, Simon?

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    • October 1, 2022 at 7:28 pm
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      Haha, no THANK you!

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  • September 29, 2022 at 7:00 am
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    I think I’ve me a few of the astronomical persuasion myself! Sounds hilarious! An author I’ve never heard of.

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    • October 1, 2022 at 7:29 pm
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      She is very good on social awkwardnesses! Highly recommend her.

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  • September 29, 2022 at 11:14 am
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    The quotes are definitely my thing – very funny. I love the dust jacket and the background of spines of the British Library Publishing books add great interest in the photo too!

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    • October 1, 2022 at 7:30 pm
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      It’s such a beautiful and interesting dustjacket. And thanks, yes, the BLWW books often turn up in the corner of photos!

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  • September 29, 2022 at 5:35 pm
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    Sounds delightful, and I love the cover, too. She’s one I always keep an eye out for.

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    • October 1, 2022 at 7:31 pm
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      I am always so excited to see her ‘in the wild’ here in the UK, even though it’s always been one that I’ve already bought in the US.

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  • September 29, 2022 at 8:57 pm
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    This sounds marvellous. I have read Our Hearts were Young and Gay and Popcorn, both thorough enjoyable and funny. Joyous little snapshots from a delightful woman’s life.

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    • October 1, 2022 at 7:31 pm
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      Absolutely, yes! And the books are very reliably similar, so you know you’ll get something wonderful each time.

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  • October 1, 2022 at 4:15 am
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    I just finished a very enjoyable umpteenth reread of Our Hearts Were Young and Gay and can think of nothing nicer than reading more by Skinner. This sounds delightful.

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    • October 1, 2022 at 7:32 pm
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      Hopefully not too hard to find in Canada! I must re-read Hearts – such a joyful book.

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  • October 1, 2022 at 2:05 pm
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    Oh dear, I am that (midsummer) party bore who is enthusiastic about the starry night sky (when he can actually see it). I have not yet been told off for doing so by my friends and family but clearly I may need to pedal back on my enthusiasms. I do not however belong to a drama society.

    I suspect this book is not for me.

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    • October 1, 2022 at 7:33 pm
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      Ha, yes, you might not find it the most comfortable book to read. Then again, this is one woman’s opinion and I daresay you have met like-minded folk who also love astronomy.

      Reply

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