Without Feathers


Without Feathers is a 1975 collection of humorous essays and two one-act plays, Death and God, by Woody Allen. It is one of Allen's best-known books, spending four months on the New York Times [Best Seller List].

Title meaning

The title Without Feathers is a reference to Emily Dickinson's poem "'Hope' is the thing with feathers", reflecting Allen's neurotic sense of hopelessness. The poem is mentioned in one of the stories.

Contents

  1. Selections from The Allen Notebooks
  2. Examining Psychic Phenomena
  3. A Guide to Some of the Lesser Ballets
  4. The Scrolls
  5. Lovborg's Women Considered
  6. The Whore of Mensa
  7. Death
  8. The Early Essays
  9. A Brief Yet Helpful Guide to Civil Disobedience
  10. Match Wits With Inspector Ford
  11. The Irish Genius
  12. God
  13. Fabulous Tales and Mythical Beasts
  14. But Soft. Real Soft.
  15. If the Impressionists Had Been Dentists
  16. No Kaddish for Weinstein
  17. Fine Times: An Oral Memoir
  18. Slang Origins