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INDIANA MAGAZINE
OF HISTORY
The Turmoil
By Booth Tarkington
Introduction by Lawrence R. Rodgers
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003. Pp. xix, 349. Illustrations. Paperbound, $18.95.)
Penrod and Sam
By Booth Tarkington
Illustrated by Worth Brehm
Introduction by David J. Nordloh
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003. Pp. xviii, 356. Illustrations. $32.95.)
Even readers who are familiar with
Booth Tarkington’sname likely will
not know that he was one of the most
widely read and prolific authors of his
day; that he won two Pulitzer prizes;
and that he was part of Indiana’s literary golden age, when Hoosier writers ranked second only to New York
writers in national popularity Thanks
to new editions of two Tarkington
novels, readers can find out what
they’ve been missing. Two added
bonuses are excellent introductory
essays about Tarkington’s importance
within the social milieu and the literary establishment of both his day
and our own.
The Turmoil, originally published
in 1915,is the first bookin the Growth
trilogy-which also includes The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) and The
Midlander (1924)-and with those
volumes provides a glimpse into
changes induced by industrialization
and urbanization in the fictional city
of Midland (likely modeled after Indianapolis). Penrod and Sam, published
the following year, follows the
escapades of 12-year-old Penrod
Schofield and his best friend, Sam
Williams. Like all three Penrod novels, Penrod and Sam is based on the
premise that boys are naturally predisposed to find or create trouble.
Together, the books provide a valuable
re-introduction to Tarkington’stalents
as social commentator,humorist, and,
most of all, storyteller.
The Turmoil follows the Sheridan
family, most of whom are obsessed
with money, power, and bigness.
Their home, like those of other nouveaux riches, is outrageously large,
expensive, and ostentatious. Eventually, such materialistic values destroy
the Sheridan sons, except for Bibbs,
the only male in the family who does
not allow his life to revolve around
money and possessions.
Because of its theme and setting,
The Turmoil remains surprisingly relevant. A generation earlier,the city had
been “a pleasant big town of neighborly people” where the “air was clean,
and there was time to live”
(p. 2 ) . Within a few short years, however, the city “spreaditself out over the
plain, mile after mile” (p. 4). Urbanization and industrialization left their
marks on the city: sound and air pol-
REVIEWS
lution; hastily constructed retail stores
ever-expanding in size; and crammed,
cramped, and flimsy housing. Trees,
once plentiful, have been replaced by
“telegraph-poles and telephone-poles
and electric-light poles and trolleypoles by the thousand” (p. 83).
While these descriptions sound
familiar to city dwellers today, The
Turmoil also seems dated, in part
because the narrator’s voice occasionally intrudes with almost mythic
commentary on personified forces
such as Wealth, Bigness, Smoke, and
Prosperity. What most dates The Turmoil, however, is its reflection of racist
attitudes. The Sheridans view their
African American servants as childlike simpletons, occasionally using
racial epithets. A reader’s only
recourse is to accept the novel grudgingly as a record of attitudes once
held by white middle-America.
Penrod and Sam fares a bit better,
for Penrods core circle of friends
includes African American boys. Yet,
even here, several characters use racial
epithets, and the butt of most comic
jokes is Verman, one of the African
American boys. To Penrods credit,
however, his affection for Verman is
real, and his truly mean-spirited taunts
are saved for a “mama’sboy” at school,
who happens to be white.
At its heart, Penrod and Sam is
ultimately an innocent portrayal of
adolescent boys who fight boredom,
social airs, and, occasionally, each
other. Tarkington’s wit and understatement are irresistible and surprisingly sophisticated, with narration
that is clearly written for adult readers. A boy, notes the narrator at one
point, “does not enjoy the effects of
intoxication; enjoyment of that kind
is obtained only by studious application” (p. 159). Later, the narrator
describes a now-feral cat as once “profoundly oppressed, even in his youth,
by the Puritan ideals of the household. . . . He wanted free air and he
wanted free life; he wanted the lights,
the lights, and the music. He abandoned the bourgeoisie irrevocably” (p.
165). While traditionally touted as a
“boy’sbook’’-and young adolescent
boys will probably find Penrod’s
calamities engaging-Penrod and Sam
will most likely appeal to adult readers who want to reminisce about
growing up in a “simpler” time or just
to enjoy Tarkington’s humorous
story-telling.
In the end, both The Turmoil and
Penrod and Sam are like the eccentric
aunt or uncle at a holiday dinner
table: While embarrassing and offensive at times, on the whole they’re
highly likable, sometimes thaughtprovoking, sometimes hilarious, and
always worth a listen. It’s good to have
Tarkington back at the table.
BARBARASTEDMAN
is assistant professor of English and honors fellow at
Ball State University. Her main
research and teaching interest is Indiana’s environmental literature. Our
Land, Our Literature (www.bsu.edu/
ourlandourlit), which deals with that
subject, was created by fifteen Ball
State students under her direction.
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