"The Gay Old Dog" by Edna Ferber was first published in 1917 in the Metropolitan Magazine. It is the first story I read in 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories, published in 2015, edited by Lorrie Moore and Heidi Pitlor.
The story starts out describing Jo Hertz as "a plump and lonely bachelor of fifty. A plethoric, roving- eyed, and kindly man, clutching vainly at the garments of a youth that had long slipped past him." He is quite well-to-do and he goes out at night in search of happiness. The setting is Chicago, Illinois.
Next we learn of Jo Hertz's more youthful years, starting when his mother was on her deathbed and he promised her that he would not marry until all three of his sisters were provided for. The story relates how this promise affected the rest of Jo's life. He is a good man, he is a kind man, but not a happy one.
I enjoyed this story, but I did not get emotionally involved with any of the characters. We often get stories of women forced to give up their lives and marriage for their mothers or their siblings, but this one shows a man doing that. The story of the hardships of Jo's early life and how his fortunes change is interesting. I also liked the picture of the times. Some reviewers described it as a "time capsule."
This is a very good quote from the story:
"Death-bed promises should be broken as lightly as they are seriously made. The dead have no right to lay their clammy fingers upon the living."
The short story is available online here.
The story was adapted to film in 1919; it was directed by Hobert Henley.
16 comments:
I’d love to read this. Thank you.
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I don't think I have ever read anything by Edna Ferber. Will have to give it a try. I just got Reinventing Hollywood (the book Glen was reading). Looks like that will keep me busy for a month or two although the library that shipped it to me only allows two weeks.
I feel sure I've read something by Edna Ferber in the past, but that story does not ring a bell with me.
I would be interested to see what all stories are in that book of "the best"! Does it cover all genres?
I've read Edna Ferber's Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big (1924), Show Boat (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), Cimarron (1930; adapted into the 1931 film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture).
It was a good read, R's Rue. I enjoyed visiting your blog. Thanks for commenting.
I like that quote too, Tracy. And it is interesting to have this innovation on the more typical plot point of a woman giving up everything. I wonder if you might possibly have felt more involved with the characters if the story had been longer, so you could really know them?
Patti, I don't think I have read anything by her before either. I do have two of her novels on my classics list to read.
I hope you enjoy Reinventing Hollywood. I have another one of Bordwell's books -- Perplexing Plots: Popular Storytelling and the Poetics of Murder, which focuses on crime fiction, plays, and films and has a chapter on Erle Stanley Gardner and Rex Stout, and another one one "Donald Westlake and the Richard Stark Machine."
Kelly, I have plans to read two of her novels for my Classics List and I have one other short story in a book of short stories.
About the stories in the 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories, I cannot say for sure, but I don't think any of them are genre stories, because there were comments in other reviews about that. That is disappointing. As far as whether they are the "best", since that is only a matter of opinion anyway, who can say? There was a similar book edited by John Updike, and put out by the same publisher for the years 1901 - 2000 (I think), and there was no overlap between the two books.
George, I plan to read Show Boat and Giant by Ferber for sure.
Margot, I did think that this story could have been expanded into a novel. It would have been a depressing one though.
Thank you Tracy for reminding us of this book and it's kindle unlimited so I have downloaded my copy. The Edna Ferber short story is sad. I wonder if death bed promises are still happening? In any event unless the promise is a positive one like "promise me you will always try to find the joy in life" they shouldn't be followed.
Looked at the table of contents and had a bad experience reading a Faulkner novel but his short stories I like. And never saw what was so great about The Great Gatsby so I am interested in trying a Fitzgerald story.
Kathy, I agree, no one should exact such promises from a son or daughter, or even have expectations like that. hope that doesn't happen as much now.
I have not even tried Faulkner, but short stories could be the way to go. And I feel the same way about The Great Gatsby.
Interesting quote, and probably true about death-bed promises. I have not read Ferber.
I agree with that quote. It might not happen as often as it used to, but the idea that someone can force another person to live the rest of their life on some kind of guilt trip even from the grave has always bothered me. I suppose it happens more often in literature than in the real world, but still...it bothers me.
Susan, Ferber is new to me too. I do plan to read some of her novels. I have always enjoyed the film adaptation of Show Boat with Irene Dunne so it will be interesting to see how the novel compares.
Sam, it is hard for me to picture that happening now, or that a son or daughter would actually be faithful to the promise, but you never know. Some parents have a good deal of influence over their children throughout their lives.
Some stories use the premise of a demand being made via an inheritance that requires some action to be completed, and I wonder how often that really happens.
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