I'm a Fool
"I'm a Fool" is a short story by American writer Sherwood Anderson. It was first published in the February 1922 issue of The Dial[1] (followed the next month by the London Mercury), and later, in 1923 as the first story in Anderson's short-story collection Horses and Men. Of that collection, William Faulkner wrote that "...I think, next to Heart of Darkness by Conrad that the first story, 'I'm a Fool,' is the best short story I ever read."[2]
The story is narrated in first person point of view and the setting is Ohio, where Sherwood Anderson was born.
Adaptations
[edit]An adaptation of the story was performed by Orson Welles and Nancy Gates on the September 29, 1941, broadcast of CBS Radio's The Orson Welles Show.[3]
James Dean, Natalie Wood and Eddie Albert starred in a live TV play on the series General Electric Theater, hosted by Ronald Reagan.
In 1977, Noel Black made a 38-minute movie based on Anderson's story, keeping its title, i.e., "I'm a Fool". In this movie, Ron Howard starred as the groom and Amy Irving played the role of the pretty girl Miss Lucy Wessen.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Anderson (1922), 119-129
- ^ Cohen (1993). Accessed 21 June 2012.
- ^ "Orson Welles Show: The Interlopers / Song of Solomon / I'm a Fool". Orson Welles on the Air, 1938–1946. Indiana University Bloomington. September 29, 1941. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
- ^ Daniel E. Slotnik (August 1, 2014). "Noel Black, 77, Dies; Directed Dark Comedy Cult Hit". The New York Times.
Sources
[edit]- Anderson Sherwood (1922). "I'm a Fool". The Dial 72(2): 119-129.
- Cohen, Philip (1993). "'This hand holds genius': three unpublished Faulkner letters". Mississippi Quarterly 46(3): 479-83.
External links
[edit]- A film clip the GE Theater adaptation is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
- The Full Text of the Story