Shandygaff: A Number of Most Agreeable Inquirendoes upon Life & Letters, Interspersed with Short Stories & Skits, the Whole Most Diverting to the Reader

A delightful romp through the literary underworld of 1910s New York, this collection introduces Kenneth Stockton, a literary editor straining to support his family while clinging to his passion for genuine literature. Stockton's world is one of battered idealism: his job hangs by a thread because his employer values advertising over criticism, his modest home trembles at the prospect of hosting the celebrated poet Finsbury Verne, and yet somehow he persists in believing that words matter. Morley weaves essays, sketches, and short stories into a warm tapestry that celebrates the chaos and charm of intellectual life, where writers juggle deadlines and dinner parties, where every conversation about art is also a conversation about survival. The prose crackles with the specific joy of people who love books more than they love money, even when money is desperately needed. For anyone who has ever tried to make a life in the arts while the world insists on asking what it's good for, Shandygaff offers a generous, laughing embrace.