The Gay Old Dog

by Edna Ferber

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics

20 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1917

About the author

Edna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were popular in her lifetime and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big (1924), Show Boat (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), Cimarron (1929; made into the 1931 film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), and Giant (1952; made into the 1956 Hollywood movie).

Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to a Hungarian-born Jewish storekeeper, Jacob Charles Ferber, and his Milwaukee, Wisconsin-born wife, Julia (Neumann) Ferber. At the age of 12, after living in Chicago, Illinois and Ottumwa, Iowa, Ferber and her family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, where she graduated from high school and briefly attended Lawrence University. She took newspaper jobs at the Appleton Daily Crescent and the Milwaukee Journal before publishing her first novel. She covered the 1920 Republican National Convention and 1920 Democratic National Convention for the United Press Association.

Ferber's novels generally featured strong female protagonists, along with a rich and diverse collection of supporting characters. She usually highlighted at least one strong secondary character who faced discrimination ethnically or for other reasons; through this technique, Ferber demonstrated her belief that people are people and that the not-so-pretty people have the best character.

Ferber was a member of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of wits who met for lunch every day at the Algonquin Hotel in New York.

Reviews

[Berengaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Published in 1917 in Metropolitan Magazine, this short story is about a nice guy called Jo. When his mother presses a deathbed promise from him to not marry until all three of his younger sisters have found husbands, it sets Jo on a trajectory of frustration and irritated family obligation that lasts well into his 60s.

The term "gay dog," I learned, was the pre-WW1 version of the British "man about town" which is what Jo becomes after the sisters finally, finally get married and free him up from his promise.

While the theme of a poor guy saddled with 3 fractious and stubborn sisters, how he does so much for them and gets nothing but bother in return, is not going to go over so well with modern audiences, the story is still entertaining. And the idea of overburdening family obligations still very current.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sad tale about the consequences of wasting your life with good intentions. Some people spend so much time helping other people live their lives that they forget to live their own. Time sneaks up on these people eventually, forcing them to come to the cold and cruel realization that they lost everything important to them because they spent all of their time being a cog in other people’s machines rather than focus on their own happiness, goals, dreams and passions. A man spent his entire life trying to give everyone everything only to end up with nothing for himself in the end, leaving him a sad and lonely old soul without a purpose and no one to value him.

[Dinah Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edna Ferber’s short story is about a brother and his sisters while living in Chicago before World War I. The brother, Jo, took care of his sisters until they married but lost his chance at marriage and family due to his given responsibilities. The sisters benefited and took him for granted resulting in a new found bitterness as he began to age.
I found this a realistic story that affects some people if they live through other people and lose out on their own opportunities.

[Lorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a short story and a good one. It has encouraged me to read more Edna Ferber.

[Lizzie S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad short story from the early 1900s about a man who sacrifices everything for his family and is left with a miserable life.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, I liked the switching of POV and occasional move into second person. It's a sad tale of a life wasted and reminded me a little of Stoner.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a very interesting tale and I like the way she writes. I love learning all the old language that she uses that is not common today. I would like to read more of her stuff. I used this story for my English Language class.
I think Jo's story is very sad. When things didn't quite go his way he embraced life in the best way he could until reality slapped him in the face and he realized how superficial the life he was living truly was.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

"All the light had gone out of it. Dusk had come on. All the light had gone out of everything. The zest had gone out of life. The game was over—the game he had been playing against loneliness and disappointment. And he was just a tired old man. A lonely, tired old man in a ridiculous, rose-colored room that had grown, all of a sudden, drab."

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jo Hertz was known as a Loop hound, but his life was about to change when he promises his mother on her death bed that he would take care of his three sisters, and not marry until they were all provided for. This turn of the century tale takes a look at how Jo Hertz withered the best years of his life until he turned into a lonely old man.

[Sohail · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a magnificent story.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was inspired to read this short story since I’d just finished Edna Ferber’s novel So Big and enjoyed the writing style. The Gay Old Dog also takes place in Chicago, where main character Jo Hertz is identified as a “Loop Hound”, which in turn-of-last-century vernacular meant he hung around Chicago’s Loop area in search of evening amusement. The story follows Jo through his young adult years after he promises his mother on her deathbed that he won’t marry until his two sisters marry. This promise affects Jo’s future, and he winds up a male spinster of sorts, bitter about the direction his life has taken. Like So Big, the writing is superb and the underlying messages and themes are deep. A bit overly dramatic in some of the dialog, but a worthwhile and enjoyable story.

[Shuggy L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Chicago, Illinois the title refers to Jo Hertz, who is in the leather harness business. He has three sisters. Edna, Carrie and Stella, two of whom eventually get married.

They live in the old family house, on Calumet Street.

At one time his finance was Emily whose son enlisted in WW1. The war changes the dynamics of family life. Jo is finally able to start living on his own terms.

Reminiscent of other authors, such as Virginia Woolf, WW1 serves as a background to a story about family.

reminiscent of Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room, Jo’s personal space, in this case, his bedroom. serves as a barometer to his personality

Overall, Jo was not served well by the well meaning family obligations of his mother, or the marital conventions of the time.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Someone thinks this story should be considered one of the best American short stories of the past hundred years. One of the problems is that it was written when the conventions of good writing were different. It works well as a short story, but I can't say I enjoyed it.

[Lunetune · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellently written, engaging, and sad. A must-read for any lover of the short form.

[Emaline Morse · Rating 4 out of 5]

lowk ate up that middle part
and the end
the beginning… i had no idea what was going on
i like that he stood up for himself

[Marilyn]

100 Years of the Best American Short Stories 1915-1920 by Lorrie Moore, Editor -from PLS