To See Behind Walls

On March 18, 1939 a short story was featured in The New Yorker called the “Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. It featured a husband’s vivid imagination taking flight to escape the day to day demands of his wife and the mundane traps of American middle class. Fanciful, fun and entertaining, it is a story everyone can relate too.

Have you ever wondered what it would look like for Walter Mitty today in a world post 9/11, terror attacks at home and abroad, government surveillance, global warming, political polarization, world-wide economic turmoil, pandemics and the war of terrorism? Where would his mind take him to escape? What would his imagination generate to help him feel as if he had some semblance of control over his tiny portion of his world?

This short story is about Benjamin Wood. He is a suburban father of two, loving husband and dog owner in Middle America who has a lot of things to do around the house on a cold, winter Saturday morning. You may not know anyone like him but at the very least he will be familiar to you.