Christopher Morley's Philadelphia

by Ken Kalfus

Christopher Morley was one of the most celebrated American authors of the 1920s and 1930s. Best known as the author of Parnassus on Wheels and Kitty Foyle, Morley wrote for a popular audience that keenly appreciated his style, his wit, and his exuberant championing of the written word. Morley wrote most of the pieces collected in this volume from 1918 to 1920, while a columnist for the Philadelphia Evening Ledger. His assignment: to "saunter" around town and the Philadelphia suburbs, and then usually after a leisurely lunch report back. The result was a series of lively essays that, read now, not only reveals a citys colorful past, but sheds light on its present: much of the Philadelphia Morley explored remains intact for the native or visitor with the eye and patience to discover it. Morleys best Philadelphia work, scattered among 12 volumes published during his lifetime, have been collected in this handsome new book, which includes period illustrations by Walter Jack Duncan and Frank Taylor, and a critical introduction by Ken Kalfus. Published on May 5, 1990, on the 100th anniversary of Morleys birth, Christopher Morleys Philadelphia brings together numerous essays that have been out of print for 50 years or longer. The book joins Fordham University Presss 1988 collection, Christopher Morleys New York, as a lasting contribution to the Morley oeuvre.