About this book
Perkins of Portland by Ellis Parker Butler is a rollicking collection of comic tales that skewers early-20th-century advertising with sly wit and small-town charm. Butler follows the enterprising Perkins and his sometimes-hapless narrator as they hawk eccentric, often questionable products to a willing, gullible public—each episode a short, sharp sketch of salesmanship, rumor, and reinvention.
Set against the backdrop of the advertising boom and American consumer culture of the 1900s, these humorous fiction pieces blend gentle satire with brisk storytelling. Butler's ear for colloquial dialogue and his eye for human foibles make every scheme entertaining and surprisingly revealing about belief, persuasion, and the appetite for easy fixes. Rather than moralizing, the stories delight in the absurdities of promotion and the unlikely successes of its practitioners.
Ideal for listeners who love classic comic fiction, vintage satire, or sharply observed character-driven stories, Perkins of Portland is perfect as an audiobook treat—best enjoyed by fans of light-hearted social satire, period humor, and well-crafted short stories that entertain while they quietly critique.
