John Kendrick Bangs was writing satirical comedy about suburbia before suburbia was even a coherent idea, and he spotted its essential absurdity immediately. This linked story collection tracks the transformation of pastoral Acre Hill into a planned community, orchestrated by the Acre Hill Land Improvement Company and their hired gun, the gloriously named Jocular Jimson Jones. Jones's job is simple: throw extravagant parties, seduce wealthy buyers with the promise of refined country living, and move real estate. He does this with tremendous flair. Then he disappears, leaving behind a community of new homeowners to grapple with what they've actually bought into. The comedy is gentle but sharp, poking fun at social ambition, the artificial construction of 'society,' and the peculiar American impulse to manufacture community through commerce. These are quiet stories, but they anticipate nearly every irony of suburban life that would unfold over the next century.
