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In the late 1920s Cobb’s popularity declined, due to the changing times. Although he continued to add books to his repertoire, they failed to receive critical acclaim. Other elements of Cobb’s life were still satisfying, such as his wanderlust and his love of spending time with friends. The stock market crash and the Great Depression took a toll on the Cobb family’s finances. While Cobb’s writing career was slowing down, Buff had become an accomplished writer. Cobb delved into work in radio and ventures in Hollywood.

This chapter begins by revealing Cobb’s longtime struggle with anxiety, especially when at a crossroads in his life. He sought outlets for his talents not only to establish himself as a successful writer but also to earn a living. Cobb’s abilities led to praise from editors such as Bob Davis of Munsey’s Magazine. The chapter follows Cobb through his last two years at the Evening World and his decision to work full time for the Saturday Evening Post under the editorship of George Horace Lorimer. Meanwhile, Cobb continued to write for both the Post and other outlets, including his Judge Priest stories. This long-lasting series evoking an idyllic “southern” atmosphere turned out to be a gold mine for Cobb. Cobb’s southern Kentucky-based writing allowed his readers to see his perspective of the South. The chapter concludes with a trip to Europe and the work Cobb accomplished from the Continent.

By mid-1917, Cobb had become one of the best-known celebrities in America. Ellis describes Cobb’s rise to fame, the experiences he had because of it, and his day-to-day activities. Next, Ellis follows Cobb on another trip to Europe in 1918, where he continued to write articles for the Saturday Evening Post. All these pieces and others were compiled in The Glory of the Coming, demonstrating in his inimitable fashion the commonplace goings-on in war. Cobb had the highest regard for American soldiers, including the African American soldiers he wrote so much about. As a southerner, his inherited and acquired prejudices often came through in his writing as subtle racism. Cobb’s humorous works generated both backlash and praise.

After his career move from the Saturday Evening Post to Cosmopolitan magazine, owned by William Randolph Hearst, Cobb continued to win awards for his brilliant storytelling. - A man who took great pride in his accomplishments, Cobb apparently cared little about critical approval; his only goal was to satisfy his reading public—the vast middle class that read poplar magazines and novels. Ellis reveals Cobb’s close relationship with his daughter Buff, who also pursued a writing career. Much of the chapter, however, focuses on Cobb’s writing in the mid to late 1920s as he continued to do what he did best—turning out popular and predictable articles and stories for Hearst publications. Cobb was one of the highest paid writers of his time.

American humor comes in many forms and derives from several influences. The southwestern frontier, the antebellum South, and the post–Civil War era are most important in interpreting the life of Kentuckian Irvin S. Cobb. In this chapter, the author describes Cobb’s early life in Paducah, Kentucky, which had a huge influence on his later writing. Ellis goes on to describe Cobb’s education, both in school and out. Cobb was an avid reader from a young age, and storytelling was a pervasive art form in the South. This taught Cobb how to tell stories. Next, Ellis examines Cobb’s early career as a writer and editor at several newspapers such as the Louisville Evening Post. Ellis concludes the chapter with Cobb’s marriage to Laura Baker and his move to New York City.

After his jaunt to Europe and the exhausting months of his lecture tour, Cobb’s health declined. An emergency operation for a hernia left him recuperating for many weeks, delaying his planned return to Europe. During this time, Cobb published few pieces, but he soon turned his poor health into a triumph of humor. His article titled “Speaking of Operations” struck gold. By 1935, his book of the same name had sold more than a million copies. Cobb’s devotion to the Old South led to his return to southern-influenced writing. The themes of North-South reconciliation and small-town neighborliness suited his audience. Cobb also had ambitions of writing a long-running play and film adaptations of his stories. Cobb became an outspoken voice for “Americanism” and victory against Germany, as well as a prosperous man as he entered mid-life.

Chapter 5 picks up at the start of World War I and details the importance of the press. Cobb was shipped off to Europe to be a foreign correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post. Ellis follows Cobb’s experiences and adventures as a wartime reporter in Europe. Cobb’s reputation for observation and reporting grew while overseas. Upon his return to the United States, Cobb continued to write about his time in Europe and the war’s impact on him. The chapter concludes with a lecture tour Cobb undertook, including the honor of being celebrated in his hometown by old friends and neighbors.

Cobb’s fame spread in the postwar years because of his creativity and his writing successes. He returned to his passion for reporting and politics when he covered the 1920 Democratic and Republican conventions. Cobb also began to roll out numerous books during this time, quickly compiling his short stories and articles into longer publications. The Ku Klux Klan achieved a resurgence in Kentucky, and Cobb wrote about it. Though Cobb opposed the modern version of the Klan in the early 1920s, his views of race remained tied to his late-nineteenth-century southern heritage.

As Cobb’s career hit rock bottom, his health declined, as did daughter Buff’s second marriage. However, he started to write his life story in the late 1930s, titled Exit Laughing. Cobb’s opposition to the New Deal and a third term for Roosevelt led him to campaign for Willkie in 1940. These exertions exacerbated Cobb’s diabetes and intestinal problems, and his health was severely affected. Cobb managed to finish his autobiography, but his condition deteriorated and he died in March 1944. Ellis concludes by remarking on Cobb’s career and legacy.

Cobb moved to Hollywood at the invitation of Will Rogers and Hal Roach. With Cobb’s work in the film business, his writing tapered off. His involvement in the filming of Judge Priest, starring Will Rogers, renewed Cobb’s belief in himself and his career. The film received excellent newspaper coverage when it was released in the fall of 1934, owing to Rogers’s celebrity. The rest of the chapter focuses on Cobb’s work and family life in Hollywood until his wealth and health began to decline.

Ellis begins by describing Cobb’s successful ventures as a humorist and how his appearance played into his style. His attention to detail and offbeat subjects became a staple for Evening World readers. Cobb used his small-town Kentucky perspective to make observations about the big city in his first long-running humor series, “New York thro’ Funny Glasses.” The transplanted Kentuckian exemplified the racial attitudes of many white Americans in the early twentieth century. Eventually, Cobb’s writing found a place in the Sunday World Magazine. Cobb also tried his hand at writing short fiction. Over the next three decades, Cobb turned out an immense amount of copy for newspapers and magazines, wrote short stories and plays, dabbled in movies, and wrote novels. He never seemed to be short of ideas.

In this chapter, Ellis describes Cobb’s difficult first year in the big city. Finding a job to support his family and learning how the New York newspapers were run proved to be a daunting task. Cobb’s big breakthrough came as a reporter for the New York Sun covering the Portsmouth Peace Conference. This led to several job offers, including one from Joseph Pulitzer’s Evening World, which Cobb accepted. Over the next six years, Cobb increased his role at this leading newspaper and honed his skills as a writer. Ellis then explores the development of Cobb’s writing as he branched out to produce a variety of columns and stories. Cobb’s success as a reporter led to his rapid rise to fame as he became one of the most popular writers in New York.

In this brief introduction, Ellis poses the question: who was Cobb, and why is his story worth telling so many years after his death? To answer this question, he quotes substantially from Cobb’s work, highlighting Cobb’s skill and wit as a wordsmith and showing that he was an important writer of the twentieth century, even though his work is mostly unread today. Ellis encourages readers of this biography to become engaged in and give recognition to Cobb’s works once again.