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This collection gathers curated excerpts from the author's wide-ranging output—short sketches, travel memoirs, novels, essays, and late reflections—arranged chronologically to show development of tone and technique. Selections include humorous sketches, travel-journal anecdotes, satirical social commentary, scenes from well-known fictional narratives, and essays examining religion, society, and personal beliefs. The foreword and brief contextual headings guide readers through thematic transitions and highlight recurring themes of irony, social observation, skepticism, and human foibles. The volume functions as an accessible sampler intended to represent the author's evolution and the diversity of his subjects and styles.
It is the time appointed. The funeral has begun. Four hundred miles away, but I can see it all, just as if I were there. The scene is the library in the Langdon homestead. Jean’s coffin stands where her mother and I stood, forty years ago, and were married; and where Susy’s coffin stood thirteen years ago; where her mother’s stood five years and a half ago; and where mine will stand, after a little time.