A Parody Outline of History

by Donald Ogden Stewart

Wherein may be found a curiously irreverent treatment of AMERICAN HISTORICAL EVENTS Imagining them as they would be narrated by American's most characteristic contemporary authors.

Introduction: A critical survey of American history, in the manner of William Lyon Phelps

Cristofer Colombo: A comedy of discovery, in the manner of James Branch Cabell

Main Street: Plymouth, Mass., in the manner of Sinclair Lewis

Courtship of Miles Standish, in the manner of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Spirit of '75: Letters of a Minute Man, in the manner of Ring Lardner

The Whiskey Rebellion, in the bedtime story manner of Thornton W. Burgess

How love came to General Grant, in the manner of Harold Bell Wright

Custer's last stand, in the manner of Edith Wharton

For the freedom of the world: A drama of the Great War. Act I in the manner of Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews; Act 2 in the manner of Eugene O'Neill

Genres: Humor, History, Essays, Nonfiction

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1921

About the author

Donald Ogden Stewart was an American author and screenwriter, best known for his sophisticated golden era comedies and melodramas, such as The Philadelphia Story (based on the play by Philip Barry), Tarnished Lady, and Love Affair. Stewart worked with a number of the great directors of his time, including George Cukor (a frequent collaborator), Michael Curtiz and Ernst Lubitsch. Stewart was also a member of the Algonquin Round Table, and the model for Bill Gorton in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. His 1922 parody on etiquette, Perfect Behavior was a favorite book of P. G. Wodehouse.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

The parodies of Lewis, Fitzgerald, and Wharton are very good, but the Lardner chapter is flat out brilliant and just as good as anything Lardner himself wrote.

[Samantha Glasser]

Donald Ogden Stewart came from Columbus, Ohio, my hometown. He won an Oscar for his adaptation of A Philadelphia Story, which I love, but I was otherwise unfamiliar with his work. My library had a copy of this so I checked it out.

These are a series of parody essays emulating the style of popular writers of the time. Unfortunately I don’t know James Branch Cabell’s or Harold Bell Wright’s work, so I don’t know if that chapter is similar in style or not. Books like this can either act as a gateway to a new generation discovering the old and forgotten, or more likely, can turn people off because the references are so dated and removed from the reader.

[Michele Cacano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't recognize all the authors, but even so, I know similar authorly styles and so can appreciate the humor of the impersonations. Fitzgerald, Wharton, O'Neill, and Ring Lardner made me giggle the most. And, oh my word, I adored the Sinclair Lewis Miles Standish parody.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

🖍️ Corny.

📙Publication date: Unknown.

🟢The illustrated e-book version can be found at Project Gutenberg.
🟣 Kindle.
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[Jocelyn Mel]

I think it's too dated for me.