EVEN IN A HOUSE OF ODD CHARACTERS Even in a house of odd characters, a fellow can have his say. The Idiot may say the wrong things at meals, but he's smart to live where he can speak his mind. The Idiot, you see, lives in Mrs. Pedagog's boarding house. She wasn't always Mrs. Pedagog, but then she married Mr. Pedagog. And if the Idiot were a flatterer he'd live in a flat, not a house full of opinions. These lively opinions are hammered at the Idiot's fellow meal-mates, the School-Master, the Bibliomaniac, Mr. Whitechoker, Mr. Warren the Poet, the Lawyer, Mr. Brief, the Doctor and the others. Where does the Idiot come up with his ideas he tends to share at breakfast? He eats Welsh rarebit, says John Kendrick Bangs, and dreams 'em!

Author Biography

John Kendrick Bangs (1862 - 1922) was an American author, humorist, editor and satirist. He was born in Yonkers, New York. His father Francis Nehemiah Bangs was a lawyer in New York City, as was his brother, Francis S. Bangs. He went to Columbia College from 1880 to 1883 where he became editor of Columbia's literary magazine, Acta Columbia and contributed short anonymous pieces to humor magazines. After graduation in 1883 with a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in Political Science, Bangs entered Columbia Law School but left in 1884 to become Associate Editor of Life under Edward S. Martin. Bangs contributed many articles and poems to the magazine between 1884 and 1888. During this period, Bangs published his first books.