Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs

by Johnson Jones Hooper

Southern backcountry humor is reflected in the adventures of the rascally Captain Suggs

Genres: American

221 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1845

About the author

American writer of humorous stories.

Reviews

[Prince Cad Ali Cad · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's good to be shifty in a new country," saith the scoundrel Captain Simon Suggs, stepping into Southern literary fame forever. Hooper's frontier fiend continues to charm himself into the hearts of readers. The humour is as fresh and funny as when it first appeared back in 1844, with Suggs letting his wit and wrath fall on the deserving and undeserving alike. The stories are concise (being written for newspapers) and give great insight into Antebellum Alabama, Hooper's own home.

Also included are a few stories written from Hooper's perspective about his doings in and about Tallapoosa.

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic satire revolving set in the Early Republic South of the 1830s and 40s. Simon Suggs is a brilliant creation, and readers who appreciate the Flashman novels will see in Suggs a predecessor to Harry Flashman.

[Derek Jacoby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty solid, pretty funny. All around fun read.

[Daniel]

You have to like archaic humor (pre-Mark Twain). If you don't, let it go by.

[Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real hoot, though like most old southwest humor it has its dark moments that cut through the humor. Captain Suggs, with his classic motto "it's good to be shifty in a new country," is a real jerk. His antics - cheating and impersonating, primarily - are often entertaining, but not so much as the narrative irony in which they're depicted: formally, the book is a satire of Jacksonain Democrats' campaign biographies and the loose memoirs for frontier figures like Daniel Boone.