Coffee and Repartee by John Kendrick Bangs

In a boarding house, at the dining table, surrounded by learned men of various fields, the Idiot, our hero, spins verbal traps and parrys the onslaughts of others using his keen wit and assistance from a drinky gentleman. This short novella has no real action, no real character development, and the protagonist's main motivation, and indeed the motivation for the story, is attempting to outwit the other men at the table, as they naturally look down upon him. He is, in fact, only know as the Idiot.
The charm of this piece is in all these things. They work together to form a dialogue driven story that brings the reader into a close intimacy with the characters with little or no precursor. Some of the tricks can be seen coming, and some cannot, but the book never wears thin. Each chapter jumps from one day to another, with no designation, but this is fine.
Because of the length, and the quality of the content, Bangs has created a little fairytale for adults, where wit replaces magic, and an epic battle is spent lounging before a meal.

-jldale