Will Cuppy was a great humorist. This is not his best book or his funniest, but it is as close as he ever got to writing autobiography. It provides fascinating glimpses into his life during the 1920s, when he was still an obscure and impecunious book reviewer.

The New York Times said that Cuppy was known as the hermit of Jones Beach "because he used to retire to a shack there to brood from time to time." In fact he brooded there full-time from 1921 to 1929, which should qualify him as an expert. A hermit, said Cuppy, "is simply a person to whom civilization has failed to adjust itself." This book provides all you will need to know, including recipes, housekeeping tips, important information about the history of spinach, and full particulars on "living from can to mouth"— "new, novel and palatable ways of opening tin cans." Advice to cooks: "When you smell it burning, it's done." I hesitate to recommend his recipes, even in emergencies, but his "Cuppy Plan of Motionless Housekeeping" works for me!

He tells how to discourage visitors and how to hide private food stashes from them. He discusses whether a hermit should keep pets, such as fish or clams, concluding in the negative. Pet fish wound one's vanity past bearing with their complete lack of response. And "the appearance of the clam is all against it for anything approaching intimate relations. For what becomes of high romance when you can't tell whether the small exposed portion of the other party is its foot or its face?"

A book of deep philosophical reflections on topics important to hermits: sardine sandwiches, canned corn, ham and eggs, cabbages and beans, coffee and pancakes, free food. Even prunes—did they ask to be stewed? And spinach, also known as succory pottage. The humor is subtle and not for everyone, but this is must reading for Cuppy fans. ( )