Condensed Novels
1871
Bret Harte turns his legendary sharp eye to the absurdity of popular fiction itself. Written in 1871, these "condensed novels" are viciously funny précis of the literary genres everyone was reading, sentimental romances, melodramatic adventures, moral tales, all stripped down to their ridiculous essentials and exposed for the pomposity they truly are. Harte's genius lies in his precise imitation: he writes these parodies in the exact stilted, overwrought prose of the originals, letting the satire emerge through perfect mimicry rather than crude jokes. The result is deliciously enjoyable. Each tale is a compact jewel of mockery. The opening piece, "Handsome Is as Handsome Does," introduces Faraday Little, a plain but clever boy navigating a world that worships beauty, and it's a perfect specimen of Harte's gift for wrapping a sharp social truth in whimsical packaging. These brief, incisive vignettes endure because they expose the absurdities that persist in both literature and life.
