Escape of Mr. Trimm: His Plight and Other Plights, The

by Irvin S. Cobb

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

Genres: Short Stories

Unbound

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

(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.

Reviews

[Frank Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot of great short stories which are a smorgasbord of different genres. my favorites are 'Fishhead' and 'The Escape of Mr. Trimm'. even though Mr. Trimm has an ending that became lackluster over the past century. 'the belled buzzard' is alright, it's just a retelling of the tale-tale heart but it's in the swamps of Georiga. the story 'to the editors of the sun' has a great description of someone making biscuits.

"... Old Judge Priest, our circuit judge, and the reigning black deity of his kitchen, Aunt Dilsey Turner, would have naught of it. So long as his digestion survived and her good right arm held out to endure, there would be real beaten biscuits for the judge's Sunday morning breakfast. And so, having risen with the dawn or a little later, Aunt Dilsey, wielding a maul-headed tool of whittled wood, would pound the dough with rhythmic strokes until it was as plastic as sculptor's modeling clay and as light as eiderdown, full of tiny hills and hollows, in which small yeasty bubbles rose and spread and burst like foam globules on the flanks of gentle wavelets. Then, with her master hand, she would roll it thin and cut out the small round disks and delicately pink each one with a fork—and then, if you were listening, you could hear the stove door slam like the smacking of an iron lip."

[Cookie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irvin S. Cobb could write. His words draw you into his stories and make them real. He was once a famous writer, and I believe he even wrote for Hollywood in the early days.
But, he used racist language and concepts, and I believe that is one of the reasons he has faded from our literary landscape. Be aware of that if you decide to read him. His talent doesn't excuse everything, although he may be worth reading as an example of his period in early 20th Century American literature.

[Jennifer Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

I remember the radio edition of the story. It was very good! This book expands the radio edition even more

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several of the stories were great, but I couldn't read one of them because I couldn't handle the archaic racist language.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cobb is a great, witty writer. His plays on words and dialogue are on par with O'Henry's. Fun reading even though it is dated.