Reproduction of the original.

Newton Booth Tarkington (1869–1946) was an American dramatist and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. Among only three other novelists to have won the Pulitzer Prize more than once, Tarkington was one of the greatest authors of the 1910s and 1920s who helped usher in Indiana's Golden Age of literature. In his 1914 work “Penrod”, Tarkington presents a series of sketches that depict the adventures of an eleven-year-old boy called Penrod Schofield living in the American Midwest shortly before World War I. A charming tale of youth reminiscent of Mark Twain's “Huckleberry Finn”, “Penrod” created the characters and set the foundation for two other novels: “Penrod and Sam” (1916) and “Penrod Jashber” (1929). It has also been adapted for the stage and screen numerous times, most famously in George Stevens' 1935 rendition. Other notable works by this author include: “Monsieur Beaucaire” (1900), “The Turmoil” (1915), and “The Magnificent Ambersons” (1918). Read & Co. Classics are proudly republishing this novel now in a new edition complete with a biography of the author from “Encyclopædia Britannica” (1922).

In Penrod and Sam, the imaginative adventures of Tarkington's 10-year-old Penrod Schofield continue. Penrod's sidekick is Samuel Williams, and together they improvise, causing general mischief and disorder wherever they go. In picaresque fashion, a fencing battle takes them all through the neighborhood; they narrowly escape serious injury while making boastful demonstrations with a loaded gun; they indulge in dubious "'nishiation" practices for their secret society; they steal food for the starving horse concealed in the Schofields' empty stable; they attempt to fish a cat out of a cistern using a pair of trousers; and they cause general chaos at Miss Amy Rennsdale's dance. Familiar characters from the earlier Penrod volume -- Maurice Levy, Georgie Basset, Roddy Bitts, Herman and Verman, and Marjorie Jones -- make their appearance in Penrod and Sam. This is a delightfully nostalgic look at Tarkington's turn-of-the-century Indiana.

Now in paperback, SF master Ben Bova's tales of the irrepressible Sam Gunn

Episodic coming of age saga.