Coffee And Repartee

Description

First published in 1893, Coffee and Repartee by John Kendrick Bangs is a series of breakfast conversations among ten gentlemen in the New York boarding house run by Mrs. Smithers. They call one of the guests – and a member of the company that gathers for morning coffee and breakfast every day – the Idiot and they tease him all the time. Sometimes the teasing is very subtle and elegant, at others times it is more vulgar, but whatever the style, the Idiot seems to be holding up marvelously. As it can be expected, in the end he proves to be much smarter than he looks and he will teach everyone a lesson, but until that point, the ten gentlemen talk a lot, show off a lot and provide perfect entertainment for the reader.

Coffee and Repartee and The Idiot – that is the complete title of the book – is a typical example of the style and humor that made Bangs so popular. The conversations in the book blend refinement with a strong masculine attitude towards life and so do the characters featured. The ten gentlemen are like ten worlds apart. The Poet, The Genial Old Gentleman, The Bibliophile and the others all have their own special take on life and they all handle conversations and conflicts differently, but that does not stop them from debating various theories and events, from the importance of placing ads on the surface of the Moon to more common issues. They never seem to agree with each other, discord that becomes even more obvious when The Idiot is around, but in the end they are all united through friendship.

Bangs’ book reads more like a series of short sketches than a contiguous story, so it is just perfect for cheering yourself up, reading one section at a time.
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