Knocking the Neighbors

Two upstanding merchants from a small Midwestern town, celebrated for their moral seriousness, slip away for a weekend in the city where they indulge in lavish meals and entertainment. The contrast between their public posturing and private appetites sets the pattern for George Ade's collection. These stories observe American life with a satirist's eye, catching townsfolk and city dwellers alike in their small pretensions and everyday absurdities. Ade writes with a Midwestern dryness, finding comedy in the gap between how people present themselves and how they actually live. The humor is gentle but sharp, affectionate but unflinching.