The Story of a Country Town

by E.W. Howe

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Genres: Fiction, Novels, Classics

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Edgar Watson Howe was an American novelist and newspaper and magazine editor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was perhaps best known for his magazine, E.W. Howe's Monthly. Howe was well traveled and known for his sharp wit in his editorials.

In 1877 Howe established and edited the Atchison, Kansas, newspaper Globe, which he continued for twenty-five years, retiring in 1911.

Howe's most famous novel is Story of a Country Town. A 1919 edition of his Ventures in Common Sense featured a foreword by celebrated American writer (and cynic) H.L. Mencken.

Howe's daughter was the novelist Mateel Howe Farmer.

Reviews

[Misterlacombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though melodramatic nearly throughout, "The Story..." is at times touching, sad and sweet. Howe seems to reach deep inside himself in giving personality to his simple characters, and leads the reader to see what must be something of himself in them. The narrative, at times, seems to disappear in digressions. However, Howe presents the tragedies he has created in such a way that the reader has little choice but to vicariously feel the characters' pain.

[Travis McGuire · Rating 4 out of 5]

E.W. Howe has been forgotten by time but this book is wonderfully written with characters that make you forget this was published in 1883. Anyone that has grown up in the American Midwest (or perhaps any small town for that matter) will immediately identify with the personalities of the people presented. As another reviewer said, this is a difficult book to find but I got mine from the local library. Rich characters and emotional in places, it's worth a read.

[Bob Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took forever to finish this book because it was so dismal. I only read it because of the acclaim it received in 1883 by the likes of Twain and Howells,
acclaim that I will never understand.

[Robert Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting work of regional fiction by an otherwise unknown Kansas author. What made this book appealing to me is that is isn't full of 19th Century optimism, nor does it have any rosy fondness for the small town. The people in the town are no better and no worse than anyone else. They have flaws, some quite significant, and much of the book plays out as a tragedy in which these flaws play a role. It's not an easy book to find, and if you don't have any interest in Midwest fiction, you shouldn't try to read it. But if you are interested in the Midwest, you should read this novel.

[Richard Locke Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, even though almost unbearbly sad.