George Barr McCutcheon (1866–1928)

"Yollop" is the surname of the main character. He is disturbed one night by a burglar. Together, they discuss crime, and the burglar relates how much better it is for him in prison.

The first half of this book is set in Yollop's house. This I enjoyed quite a lot. It's funny at times and engaging throughout.

The second half revolves around the burglar's court case. This is much less appealing. I found it boring or annoying on several occasions.

On the whole, it's worth a read, though only once.… (mer)

I got this because there was a word of the day, "brewstered". My favorite dog of all time was named Brewster, but brewstered didn't relate to my beloved companion from 2000 to 2012, but to a character in this book. So, I decided to check it out. Why not?

It seems that during a celebration of his 25th birthday, with pals from the "Little Sons of the Rich", Montgomery (or Monty) Brewster learns that his grandfather has died and that he, Monty, is to inherit a million dollars. But, a few days later, he learns that an uncle he hardly knew, has also died. That uncle, James T. Sedgwick, was a mining magnate in the west. It seems that said uncle will give his whole fortune, something like eight million dollars, to Monty, but with a certain proviso: Monty must divest himself completely of his inheritance from his grandfather by his 26th birthday, i.e. within just less than a year. But, he can't just give the money away, he must spend it in a somewhat responsible manner. The executor of the will, Swearengen Jones, will act as arbitrator as to how the money is spent, i.e. Monty has to clear things with Jones ahead of time. It seems that Uncle Sedgwick detested Monty's grandfather, hence the proviso in his will.

So, Monty goes about spending money like a champ. He throws parties and takes his pals on a cruise to Europe and so forth. Along the way, he has some set backs, in that the money isn't disappearing fast enough. For example, he was doing a nice job of losing money in Monte Carlo, when, suddenly his luck changed and he ended up winning a rather large sum.

Well, it's a light, frothy, amusing tale, but somewhat fun. It also dragged me further into a reading rabbit hole. It seems that Monty was a long time friend with Peggy Gray. As children they used to sneak up into the attic and read the books of Oliver Optic to each other. So, of course, I had to read some Oliver Optic. Then too, on the cruise, we have Monty shut up in his state room when in rushed Peggy for some reason or another. But, at the moment of Peggy's entering, Monty was reading a book, The Intrusions of Peggy, so of course I had to read that one as well.

Anyway, was an ok read, if not a great classic.

… (mer)