THE INCORRIGIBLE MONROE
AUTHOR: Alexander T. Buttercross
PUBLISHER: Bullfinch House
YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1927
There’s a reason why Alexander T. Buttercross’ classic novel, The Incorrigible Monroe, has been a staple for high school English classes for over eight decades.
There just isn’t a piece of writing that captures the decade known as “The Roaring Twenties” any better.
Cheers to You, Young Duffer
In his day, Buttercross penned multiple tales surrounding the lives of the ennui laden rich, folks whose fortunes skyrocketed during a boom period for the U.S. economy, leaving them with little to do other than wile away the hours, drink heavily, philosophize needlessly, spend extravagantly, and nazel gaze to no end, scrutinizing every inch of their personal life choices and decisions.
In retrospect, historians are left to ponder whether upper crust society would have rested on their laurels for so long had they been aware that the Great Stock Market Crash would close out the decade in 1929, thus ushering in the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
Truly the best read that Buttercross ever produced was the life story of Sid Monroe, the larger than life go-getter who spends lavishly on extravagant parties at his Chicago mansion in the hope that by doing so, he’ll impress and win the heart of Jenny, the woman he so desperately loves.
This reviewer dares to claim that if one were to pile up every romance novel ever written, they’d all surely pale in comparison the sheer gut wrenching emotion of Monroe’s inner turmoil.
On the outside, Monroe is everything to everyone. He speaks with an air of sophistication and oozes a mixture of Ivy League breeding with a man of the people charm. He’s a notorious glad hander, always quick with a handshake, a humorous anecdote, a hilarious joke, and almost as out of an effort to manufacture a witty personality out of whole cloth, insists on referring to everyone he meets as, “Young Duffer.”
It’s sort of his trademark.
Monroe can have his pick of any woman he wants in the Chicago nightlight circles but alas, his heart beats only for Jenny. Meanwhile, Jenny is slavishly devoted to the boorish, ill-tempered Gustavo, who beats her viciously with a wet noodle, curses like a sailor, and drains his wife’s inheritance on his obsession with pointy German helmets.
In fact, SPOILER ALERT – the novel climaxes when Monroe and Gustavo quarrel over the obscene number of pointy German helmets Gustavo has purchased (an entire warehouse full). Fisticuffs are exchanged, a struggle ensues and Monroe is tragically impaled on one.
His sad last words?
“Kind of wish I’d realized there were other fish in the sea before right now…ack!”
Kind of wish I’d realized there were other fish in the sea before right now ack, indeed.
STATUS: Shelf-worthy
A tiny version of the Incorrigible Monroe has been known to throw extravagant parties right on BQB’s magic bookshelf. Outwardly, BQB and Monroe couldn’t be more different (BQB being a nerd while Monroe is a smooth talker. However, they both suffer from the affliction of “Caring Too Much About Women Who Don’t Like Us Syndrome” and have wasted away many an evening conversing over martinis.
BQB’s Attorney says, “This is a parody.”
Man with martini image courtesy of a shutterstock.com license.
Bookshelf Battle 