The Inventions of the Idiot

by John Kendrick Bangs

The Inventions of the Idiot

Genres: Fiction, Ebooks, Humor

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

John Kendrick Bangs was an American author and satirist, and the creator of modern Bangsian fantasy, the school of fantasy writing that sets the plot wholly or partially in the afterlife.

Reviews

[S Cearley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's well written, but.
There is a point where you see and understand the humor, but as someone a century removed, it feels like it would have been a one-man show or a standup routine rather than a collection of pieces had the author the opportunities in his lifetime. The protagonist, who HAD to have been based on Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch, goes on full, complete, well-written rants about one thing or another depending on the story.
The Idiot's place in the story feels like a sounding board for "those darn kids" more than any legitimate grievance with society handled in a humorous matter. And writing this in the Internet age, it also feels rather like the dream of the "debate me you fool" type who imagines this to be how it would go if they got their 'logic and truth bomb' in on whatever unsuspecting poor soul happened to be there just trying to live their life.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

About the third story, I realized this was a satire and the stories took on a greater interest. I became quite eager to finish. Many of the stories have a relevance to current times. Quite interesting.

[Dayo Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the Idiot and his pals a lot, the electricity chapter must have been read by Steve jobs 😀

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much so accidentally discovered this short work and decided to read it after reading a little bit about the history of the author in a Wikipedia page (I love clever American satire and was hoping this would be engaging). I was not at all displeased -- in fact, I am now enamoured with this author and immediately began digging for more writing. To my surprise, Bangs seems to have been extremely prolific, but relatively unknown today. I have had a very difficult time locating any biographical information and thought that, if someone invented a writing style (Bangsian fiction, in which the stories are chiefly told from deceased cultural icons), there might be more. I was rather disappointed. Overall, I highly recommend the 'Idiot' series of you're a fan of the idea of old men sitting around a coffee table, attempting to put-show each other intellectually. While the books are a reflection of their times (Bangs's sexism can be hard to swallow at times), they're still fairly biting in their criticisms and mockery and fun to think about.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loaded with humor and satire this really was quite an entertaining book...