As The Treasury of Laughter Blog winds
down – we’re down to less than a dozen writers, less than a
hundred pages – we’re going to hit some big names. Big, powerful
names. Names of the literary giants who have shaped an age, just like
Moe and Homer.
Used under the fair use doctrine for
commentary purposes.
Booth Tarkington is one of those names.
Like John Updike and William Faulkner, Tarkington is a multiple
winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction (He won for “The Magnificent Ambersons,” and “Alice Adams,” both of which were
made into movies).
That story, of course, is a seminal
work in marking the transition of American culture from one that was
primarily pastoral to one driven by growth, economy, and power –
and brought us the famous old-money line: “Don’t you think being
things is rather better than doing things?”
Tarkington, of course, was a doer. Not
only did he win two Pulitzer prizes, he also served a term in the
Indiana House of Representatives, illustrated many of his own books
and many reprints of others’ books, including the 1933 reprint of
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and earned two honorary degrees
from Princeton.
His books turned to films brought out
the doers as well, including Orson Welles, who filmed the Ambersons.
So stay tuned. We’ll read a bit of
Tarkington’s “The Quiet Afternoon” in the next installment at
The Treasury of Laughter.
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