Henry Alford

Who is Henry Alford?

Henry Alford is an American humorist and journalist who has contributed to Vanity Fair and The New York Times for over a decade. He has also written for The New Yorker. The author of four books, he won a Thurber Prize for his second, Big Kiss, an account of his attempt to become a working actor. His book about manners, "Would It Kill You to Stop Doing That?", was published in January 2012 and he currently writes a column about manners for The New York Times.

Sometimes called an "investigative humorist," he is primarily known for his first-person quests and exploits. These include creating a gourmet meal out of food purchased at a 99-Cent Store, walking the streets of New York City in his pajamas, inviting a restaurant health inspector to rate his apartment's kitchen while he was serving lunch to friends, and trying to pass the National Dog Groomers Association's certification test by applying lipstick to his cocker spaniel's snout and telling the test's judge, "I like a dog with a face."

His humor pieces for The New Yorker have included his imagining British taxi drivers reciting W.H. Auden's poetry to their passengers and a playlet composed entirely of Eugene O'Neill's stage directions. In September 2007, the magazine published Alford's account of wearing a solar-powered jacket for three weeks.