The Booming of Acre Hill, and Other Reminiscences of Urban and Suburban Life

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bangs, John Kendrick, 1862-1922

Contributor:

Gibson, Charles Dana, 1867-1944

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Booming of Acre Hill and Other Reminiscences of Urban and Suburban Life" by John Kendrick Bangs is a collection of humorous stories written in the early 20th century. The narratives primarily revolve around the suburban community of Dumfries Corners and its inhabitants, tackling the absurdities of suburban life, the clash between nature and development, and the quirks of social ambitions. The opening stories set the stage for quirky, character-driven tales that delve into the intersection of urban convenience and the nostalgia for nature. At the start of the collection, the narrative introduces Acre Hill, a suburban area transformed from a serene landscape to a bustling community with the advent of the Acre Hill Land Improvement Company. The tale follows the chief figure behind this transformation, a mild-mannered man, who struggles with the challenges of promoting Acre Hill to potential residents. His attempts culminate in the introduction of "Jocular Jimson Jones," a society figure tasked with attracting attention to the area through extravagant social gatherings, ultimately leading to the selling of homes-only for Jimson to vanish, leaving the community to ponder the transient nature of social standing and success. This introductory portion sets a comedic yet poignant tone for what's to follow, highlighting the idiosyncrasies of suburban living. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Contents:

The booming of Acre Hill

The strange misadventures of an organ

The plot that failed

The base ingratitude of Barkis, M.D.

The utilitarian Mr. Carraway

The book sales of Mr. Peters

The valor of Brinley

Wilkins

The mayor's lamps

The balance of power

Jarley's experiment

Jarley's Thanksgiving

Harry and Maude and I, also James

An affinitive romance

Mrs. Upton's device.

Credits:

Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Michael Ciesielski and PG Distributed Proofreaders

Notes:

Reading ease score: 70.6 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.

Release date is 2004-02-01