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Title: Fables in Slang (Classics of Modern American Humor Series) by George Ade ISBN: 0-404-19925-9 Publisher: Ams Pr Pub. Date: 01 January, 1994 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $27.50

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Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: George Ade--Original U.S. Writer
Comment: Even though George Ade sold out to money via the early national syndicates; he was an originator of "American Realism," telling stories about the early modern urban dreams that most of us have taken fron granted in our very (though undefined) post-modern world. At fault, Ade can only be criticized for featuring characters in Chicago that came from small towns in the Midwest. This, in itself, is an important contribution to the ongoing narrative of the American urban experience. Though at times corny, compared to our modern stereotypes of life and shallow experiences thereof; Ade shines forth with sympathy, humor, and insight through his articles, letters, and stories of persons living in pre-modern modern Chicago--a true American city. (P.S.--Please have the previous and next reviewer learn proper English grammar and spelling).

Rating: 5
Summary: appreciating george ade
Comment: The first thing you have to tackle with this book is the title, since these stories are not fables and there is little "slang". Ade was not a fantasist. These are very short, realistic, and sometimes very funny stories. He called them fables because they all have a moral, but the moral is ironic, meant to underline the hypocracy and narrow vision of small town mid-west America in the turn of the Century (19th-20th Century). By slang he meant these are stories in the vernacular, written in a conversational tone. Ade was a Drieser in miniature, and one of our best humorists, and his fans included Edmund Wilson and fellow Hoosier Jean Shephard (another underappreciated humorist, remembered for the film The Christmas Story).

Rating: 5
Summary: That's Slang?! I Never Knew.
Comment: This book is WEIRD. It's weird mostly because it's SOOOOO dated that it's hard to understand it.
It is composed of many fables (that you've never heard) written in slang... But it's slang from THEN, not now. A lot of the "slang" has become common language now, so it doesn't seem like slang at all. However, some of the slang is so unusual that it's hard to figure out what Mr. Ade is talking about.
I love this book. I bought it for about [price] in an antique shop many years ago and have loved it ever since. There is one fable called The Fool Killer (or something to that effect... I don't have it here in front of me) that really resonates with me. It pokes fun of people who make themselves miserable in order to endure a day of "fun".
If you're the type of person who likes to collect weird old books, this is the book for you.