Writing at the Front Porch Republic, John Willson this week semi-seriously proposed the formation of The Booth Tarkington Appreciation Society. His extensive remarks were in part a reaction to Thomas Mallon’s “snotty” piece in the Atlantic Monthly five years ago, which dissed Tarkington mightily. I commented on Mallon’s article on this site as well. Here’s Willson’s opening salvo: “Booth Tarkington was wildly popular during his lifetime and made a lot of money writing, but his reputation went south after his death in 1946. Just as Trollope made a comeback in the late 1940s, Tarkington is due for his comeback about now.”

I finally got around to tracking down a review of Indiana Rep’s adaptation of The Gentleman from Indiana, which was staged as part of their 2006-2007 season. It’s a very exhaustive review, and here’s the lead: “Adapted by James Still, this Gentleman is an upbeat, old-fashioned tale of virtue beating out greed and graft, and of the down-home integrity of small-town rural life. If this sounds something like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ that wouldn’t be too far off the mark.”

As far as I can recall, Tarkington never wrote about golf, and so must have practiced it as a social adept rather than as an actual enthusiast. (Compare with his wit regarding one of his passions, painting, as documented in Rumbin Galleries and Some Old Paintings, among others.) A country club was the setting of many of the stories in Women, and seemed the object of some satire there. In any event, here are the details of the Kennbunkport Historical Society tourney…

At vere loqui, Martin Cothran has taken a very interesting spin on what makes great children’s books and why. His thesis is that good books help kids socialize themselves without having to learn everything through firsthand experience (and mistakes!). Of Penrod he says, “Penrod is a boy who is having trouble figuring out the rules of the adult world, and the adults are having trouble figuring out why Penrod can’t figure them out.” So typical.

This Thursday, August 13, from noon to 1:00, the Bristol-Washington Township Public Library Book Club will be discussing the works of Booth Tarkington. Here are the details from the library’s calendar: “Read a book by an Indiana author, Booth Tarkington. Join us as we share our impression, and opinions. For more information, call the library, 848-7458. Contact: Daryl or Treva.”

According the website, “LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.” So far, four complete Booth Tarkington titles are available. I can’t vouch for the quality of any of these recordings, but the site sounds like a cool idea!

Three years ago, I wrote my own stage adaptation of Beasley’s Christmas Party, also including elements of Tarkington’s Ramsay Milholland. Last year, the off-Broadway Keen Company staged their own dramatic adaptation. Now it’s a musical! Those who have ears, take note. Clearly there’s something to this story, which Mark Twain even noted when the story was originally released.

4-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom home. Beautiful open floor plan. Kitchen with maple cabinets, stainless steel appliances, granite counters, sandstone tile backsplash and huge island. Hardwood floors. Large family room fireplace and wall of windows. 1st-floor den with French doors. Master suite with tray ceiling and Grecian bath. Finished basement. 3-car garage. Got $400k or so to drop?

At Collecting Children’s Books, Peter D. Sieruta has delivered a very extensive and interesting commentary on the dilemma of awards in an essay title “A Year Without a Newbery?” The issue is whether the significance of awards gets watered down in years when the talent pool is very shallow. He opens the essay by talking about Pulitzer, Tarkington, and The Magnificent Ambersons.

More than a couple of arts and education institutions bear Tarkington’s name in some manner. One you probably have not heard of is Indianapolis Public School 92. The elementary school was scheduled for closure last year due to budget cuts, but it still appears to be operational, as the website is still up and the listed phone number still rings through. The site, however, has not been updated since 2007. Their “Who is Booth Tarkington?” page contains some unusual biographical notes…