Penrod Jashber
Encyclopedia
Penrod Jashber is the third in a series of collections of sketches
by Booth Tarkington
about the adventures of Penrod Schofield, an 11-year-old middle-class boy in a small city in the pre-World War I
Midwestern United States
. Published in 1929, it was preceded by Penrod
in 1914 and Penrod and Sam
in 1916. The three books were published together as one volume, Penrod: His Complete Story, in 1931.
Penrod Jashber begins when Penrod’s best friend Sam Williams acquires a new pup. The boys squabble about his name, the pup and Penrod’s dog Duke rampage through Penrod’s house, and as punishment Penrod’s parents force him to wear a smelly asafetida
bag. Penrod copes with this humiliation by telling tall tales of his exploits to his future girlfriend, lovely Marjorie Jones.
The detective story arc begins when Penrod further immerses himself in fantasy by penning a hilarious bandit epic starring George B. Jashber, the "notted detective." Penrod decides to become a detective; imitating his movie heroes, he squints his eyes and talks out of the side of his mouth. He paints an office sign in the (empty) stable and acquires an official-looking badge from the cook’s nephew. To practice, he shadows his school teacher in the evenings.
Now adequately experienced, Penrod enlists Sam and the two Negro boys who live across the alley, Herman and Verman, as assistants. Needing a scoundrel to shadow, Penrod overhears his parents jocularly referring to the polished manners of a suitor of his late-teens sister Margaret, a Mr. Herbert Hamilton Dade, as being appropriate to a horse thief
. The rest of the book concerns the increasingly desperate but futile efforts of Penrod and his gang to prove to themselves that Mr. Dade really does steal horses.
Their efforts are supported by Sam’s older brother, Robert, a rival for Margaret’s affections; this support proves embarrassing when the boys’ increasingly effective harassment of Mr. Dade finally brings the children’s world of fantasy into fatal collision with the dull reality of the adult world. Distressed by the exposure of his fantasy world, Penrod discards the now alien persona of Jashber and dissolves the agency, and he and the other boys return to their childish occupations.
Sketch story
A sketch story, or sketch, is a piece of writing that is generally shorter than a short story, and contains very little, if any, plot. The term was most popularly-used in the late nineteenth century. As a literary work, it is also often referred to simply as the sketch.-Style:A sketch is mainly...
by Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams...
about the adventures of Penrod Schofield, an 11-year-old middle-class boy in a small city in the pre-World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. Published in 1929, it was preceded by Penrod
Penrod
Penrod is a collection of comic sketches by Booth Tarkington that was first published in 1914. The book follows the misadventures of Penrod Schofield, an eleven-year-old boy growing up in the pre-World War I Midwestern United States, in a similar vein to Tom Sawyer...
in 1914 and Penrod and Sam
Penrod and Sam
Penrod and Sam is a 1937 comedy/drama film directed by William C. McGann. It was the third screen version of American writer Booth Tarkington's novel Penrod and Sam.-Plot:...
in 1916. The three books were published together as one volume, Penrod: His Complete Story, in 1931.
Plot summary
Penrod Jashber is more novelistic in form than the preceding books; rather than each chapter standing as a separate story, the bulk of this book has one story arc, of Penrod’s pretending to be detective George B. Jashber. Otherwise it is similar: it is written in the same style and takes place at the same time.Penrod Jashber begins when Penrod’s best friend Sam Williams acquires a new pup. The boys squabble about his name, the pup and Penrod’s dog Duke rampage through Penrod’s house, and as punishment Penrod’s parents force him to wear a smelly asafetida
Asafoetida
Asafoetida , alternative spelling asafetida, is the dried latex exuded from the living underground rhizome or tap root of several species of Ferula, which is a perennial herb...
bag. Penrod copes with this humiliation by telling tall tales of his exploits to his future girlfriend, lovely Marjorie Jones.
The detective story arc begins when Penrod further immerses himself in fantasy by penning a hilarious bandit epic starring George B. Jashber, the "notted detective." Penrod decides to become a detective; imitating his movie heroes, he squints his eyes and talks out of the side of his mouth. He paints an office sign in the (empty) stable and acquires an official-looking badge from the cook’s nephew. To practice, he shadows his school teacher in the evenings.
Now adequately experienced, Penrod enlists Sam and the two Negro boys who live across the alley, Herman and Verman, as assistants. Needing a scoundrel to shadow, Penrod overhears his parents jocularly referring to the polished manners of a suitor of his late-teens sister Margaret, a Mr. Herbert Hamilton Dade, as being appropriate to a horse thief
Horse thief
-United States:The term horse thief came into great popularity in the U.S. during the 19th century. During that time the Great Plains states, Texas, and other western states were sparsely populated and negligibly policed. As farmers tilled the land and migrants headed west through the Great...
. The rest of the book concerns the increasingly desperate but futile efforts of Penrod and his gang to prove to themselves that Mr. Dade really does steal horses.
Their efforts are supported by Sam’s older brother, Robert, a rival for Margaret’s affections; this support proves embarrassing when the boys’ increasingly effective harassment of Mr. Dade finally brings the children’s world of fantasy into fatal collision with the dull reality of the adult world. Distressed by the exposure of his fantasy world, Penrod discards the now alien persona of Jashber and dissolves the agency, and he and the other boys return to their childish occupations.