Torchy and Vee

About the book

Back from an assignment investigating an army motor kitchen, Torchy hopes to enjoy the company of his wife Vee and their small son. Instead, Vee asks him to consider Marion Gray, whose years caring for an invalid father have left her without either an income or much preparation for independence. The opening predicament establishes the collection's characteristic mixture of brisk slang, social observation, and energetic interference in other people's troubles. Torchy's work and friendships bring further encounters with employers, neighbors, and ambitious or unlucky acquaintances. Ford explicitly places these stories on the American home front during and around the Great War. The humor comes from a narrator quick to notice pretension but also capable of recognizing the unfairness hidden inside an apparently ordinary domestic arrangement.

• Practical kindness
• Domestic independence
• The wartime home front

Why read it

Torchy's irreverent account of Marion's unpaid caregiving gives the comedy a pointed social observation from its opening episode.

English Grosset and Dunlap edition with 1918 and 1919 copyrights