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AFTER I came North to live it seemed to me, as probably it has seemed to many Southern born men and women that the Southerner of fiction as met with in the North was generally just that—fiction—and nothing else; that in the main he was a figment of the drama and of the story book; a type that had no just claim on existence and yet a type that was currently accepted as a verity.
124 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1912
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About the author
Irvin S. Cobb
313 books18 followers(Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb)
American author, humorist, editor and columnist from Paducah, Kentucky who relocated to New York during 1904, living there for the remainder of his life.
He wrote for the New York World, Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper, as the highest paid staff reporter in the United States.
Cobb also wrote more than 60 books and 300 short stories. Some of his works were adapted for silent movies. Several of his Judge Priest short stories were adapted for two feature films during the 1930s directed by John Ford.
American author, humorist, editor and columnist from Paducah, Kentucky who relocated to New York during 1904, living there for the remainder of his life.
He wrote for the New York World, Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper, as the highest paid staff reporter in the United States.
Cobb also wrote more than 60 books and 300 short stories. Some of his works were adapted for silent movies. Several of his Judge Priest short stories were adapted for two feature films during the 1930s directed by John Ford.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 26, 2021
Nope. I just can't do this.
I have not had much chance to really get moving with this book until today, and I have just begun the second of ten stories, but I am calling it a DNF.
I should have been prepared. Cobb was a Southern man, after all. A Southern author writing about a Southern town, with a definitely Southern approach to life and people.
But no matter how talented the author (and Cobb is quite talented: he created such a realistic scene of the County Fair that I could almost smell the food) talent does not ease the jolt a modern reader feels when faced with words that are no longer acceptable.
The first story had a few terms here and there which annoyed but I thought I could deal with. However, in the second story the attitude intensifies and like I said I simply cannot continue.
I was attempting this book because his Judge Priest stories were what first brought Cobb fame and after reading part of his autobiography I was curious to see what these stories were like.
And I have seen. This book belongs in the past with the ghosts of those old Southern gentlemen Cobb was trying to glorify.
I have not had much chance to really get moving with this book until today, and I have just begun the second of ten stories, but I am calling it a DNF.
I should have been prepared. Cobb was a Southern man, after all. A Southern author writing about a Southern town, with a definitely Southern approach to life and people.
But no matter how talented the author (and Cobb is quite talented: he created such a realistic scene of the County Fair that I could almost smell the food) talent does not ease the jolt a modern reader feels when faced with words that are no longer acceptable.
The first story had a few terms here and there which annoyed but I thought I could deal with. However, in the second story the attitude intensifies and like I said I simply cannot continue.
I was attempting this book because his Judge Priest stories were what first brought Cobb fame and after reading part of his autobiography I was curious to see what these stories were like.
And I have seen. This book belongs in the past with the ghosts of those old Southern gentlemen Cobb was trying to glorify.
June 13, 2022
Deeply problematic. Much like most things from my hometown.
April 6, 2015
As mentioned elsewhere, I have been on a long Irvin Cobb jag that started in July of 2014 and has just about run its course. I'd keep going indefinitely except that I seem to have read them all...but maybe I will start over. They are that good.
Cobb wrote many books about Judge Priest, a mythical judge in a mythical little Kentucky town. The stories start well after the end of the Civil War and end with the final story in BACK HOME, "Black and White." The characters are mostly former Confederate soldiers whose lives were forged in that conflict, and the issues of being on the losing side and being an old man in changing times.
The essence of the Judge Priest stories is the process of reconciliation and what happens to men as their brotherhood shrinks as friends and comrades age and die. I like to think of these as "bible stories" although there's nothing much about them on the surface to suggest any religious context. Judge Priest himself does not attend church and does not belong to any congregation. But these stories deal with moral challenges, conflicts, and frictions in a way that seem biblical in intent. The last story in the book concerns two white Confederate veterans, the last survivors of their local breed, and an elderly black former slave whom they nominate for membership in the group and whom they appoint to a position of honor, the color-bearer. It is a very sweet story and, like Cobb's other fiction, based on real people and real events.
Cobb wrote many books about Judge Priest, a mythical judge in a mythical little Kentucky town. The stories start well after the end of the Civil War and end with the final story in BACK HOME, "Black and White." The characters are mostly former Confederate soldiers whose lives were forged in that conflict, and the issues of being on the losing side and being an old man in changing times.
The essence of the Judge Priest stories is the process of reconciliation and what happens to men as their brotherhood shrinks as friends and comrades age and die. I like to think of these as "bible stories" although there's nothing much about them on the surface to suggest any religious context. Judge Priest himself does not attend church and does not belong to any congregation. But these stories deal with moral challenges, conflicts, and frictions in a way that seem biblical in intent. The last story in the book concerns two white Confederate veterans, the last survivors of their local breed, and an elderly black former slave whom they nominate for membership in the group and whom they appoint to a position of honor, the color-bearer. It is a very sweet story and, like Cobb's other fiction, based on real people and real events.
November 8, 2013
This is a great example of Irvin S. Cobb as an author of local color. I also highly suggest this for individuals interested in Paducah and Jackson Purchase history, especially "Up Clay Street." As in most great Cobb books, the diligent Judge Priest makes a number of appearances.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews