Penrod

"Penrod" by Booth Tarkington is a novel likely written during the late 19th century. The story revolves around the adventures and misadventures of Penrod Schofield, a boy on the cusp of adolescence, as he grapples with the trials of childhood, family expectations, and the often comical predicaments that arise from his attempts to navigate the adult world around him. The opening of "Penrod" introduces us to Penrod sitting on a fence, resentfully contemplating a public performance in which he must play the notorious Child Sir Lancelot. From the onset, it’s clear that Penrod bears a complex emotional landscape—he is both imaginative and sensitive, as indicated by his envy of his dog Duke, who enjoys the freedom Penrod craves. We see Penrod's disdain for Mrs. Lora Rewbush's "Pageant of the Table Round," a sentiment that escalates with every rehearsal and reveals his desire to escape the burdens of expectation. This initial chapter lays a foundation for the exploration of Penrod's character—a blend of innocence, humor, stubbornness, and creativity—serving as an invitation to readers to delve into Penrod's world of whimsical challenges and adolescent dilemmas. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Newton Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) and Alice Adams (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once, along with William Faulkner, John Updike, and Colson Whitehead. In the 1910s and 1920s he was considered the United States' greatest living author. Several of his stories were adapted to film.