Summary
Summary of Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective
Key ideas
Key idea 1
An innocent man becomes a detective
Philo Gubb is a tall, gaunt paperhanger in Riverbank, Iowa, with a badge, a trunk of disguises and complete faith in his mail-order detective lessons. He is gentle and solemn, but his confidence is not matched by an understanding of the people around him.
His cases bring him among swindlers, practical jokers and people with secrets. Again and again, luck, stubbornness or an unexpected piece of reasoning carries him further than his training does. The comedy grows from the gap between the detective Gubb believes himself to be and the innocent man everyone else sees.
Key idea 2
A roommate gives Gubb his start
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Key idea 3
The wrong suspicion uncovers a theft
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Key idea 4
Love ties Gubb to a swindler
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Key idea 5
A practical joke opens another case
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Key idea 6
The detective often understands things last
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Key idea 7
Private hopes accompany a public investigation
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Key idea 8
Honesty unsettles the clever people's schemes
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
Readers who enjoy gentle farce, small-town characters and detective stories turned upside down will love Gubb. It suits anyone who likes a running joke, a lovable fool and a string of short, self-contained cases.
What this book is
Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective is a book of comic tales by Ellis Parker Butler, set in the small river town of Riverbank, Iowa. Its hero is Philo Gubb, a tall, gaunt paperhanger who has sent away for twelve mail-order lessons from the Rising Sun Detective Agency of Slocum, Ohio. He carries a badge, a trunk of disguises and a deep faith in Lesson Four, Rule Four.
The tales were written in the early years of the twentieth century and run on a single joke done many ways. Gubb is gentle, solemn and foolish, yet he keeps solving cases by accident, by stubbornness or by a stroke of odd logic. Around him swirl con men, circus freaks, practical jokers, lovesick spinsters, a swindling would-be father-in-law and a very large lady named Syrilla.
In the pages ahead you will meet the cases, from the capture of a swindler called the Hard-Boiled Egg to the cases that follow. You will hear what Gubb wants, what stands in his way, and how the stories are put together. Let us begin with the case that makes him famous.
In this summary
- 1A student detective nets the Hard-Boiled EggFree
- 2A circus, a corpse and a stolen cup
- 3A tattoo, a daughter and a bargain price
- 4Dynamiters, an oubliette and the cost of a pie
- 5Clients who pay him for nothing
- 6Odd cases from wills to wiggles
- 7Impostors, pirates and a clever pig
- 8Love, the telegrams and the last case
- 9How Butler tells the joke
Key point 1 of 9
A student detective nets the Hard-Boiled Egg
The book opens in a rented bedroom in Riverbank, where Philo Gubb is a paperhanger and a student of the Rising Sun Detective Agency Correspondence School. He peers through a crack in the door at his roommate, Mr. Critz. Critz is a plump, kindly old man with a bald head and a white goatee, and he is practicing a shell game with a rubber pea that keeps rolling away.
Critz says he has been swindled so often that he means to turn con man himself. He has a gold brick, a book called The Complete Con Man, and a need for an honest looking partner. Gubb, who looks honest and not too bright, agrees to help rehearse. He even brings in his friend Pie-Wagon Pete, who runs a lunch wagon on Willow Street.
Pete hears Gubb describe Critz and laughs. The old man sounds exactly like a famous crook the police call the Hard-Boiled Egg. Pete tells Gubb to say nothing of him and to bring three policemen to the room.
Gubb does. The gold brick is only a paving brick, and the old gentleman is taken away, amazed to be fooled. Gubb announces himself as the foremost detective in Riverbank, Iowa. The tale sets the pattern for the whole book: Gubb's luck, and other people's cunning, do the work.
The Riverbank Eagle prints two columns of praise, and Gubb orders eighteen disguises from the agency with his reward. From that day he is a public figure, though calls for his services are rare.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
What most often explains Gubb's success as a detective?
Right. “Gubb is gentle, solemn and foolish, yet he keeps solving cases by accident, by stubbornness or by a stroke of odd logic.”Not quite. “Gubb is gentle, solemn and foolish, yet he keeps solving cases by accident, by stubbornness or by a stroke of odd logic.”
What connects Gubb's love for Syrilla with his continuing money troubles?
Right. “The book is a chain of tales tied together by his love for the Fat Lady Syrilla and by the gold mine stock he is tricked into buying from her father.”Not quite. “The book is a chain of tales tied together by his love for the Fat Lady Syrilla and by the gold mine stock he is tricked into buying from her father.”
Why can Gubb escape the flooded room?
Right. “Then, as a paperhanger, he notices that the walls are only papered canvas.”Not quite. “Then, as a paperhanger, he notices that the walls are only papered canvas.”
Questions about Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective
What is Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective about?
It follows Philo Gubb, a paperhanger in Riverbank, Iowa, who learns detection from twelve mail-order lessons. He takes cases involving circuses, swindlers, wills, pirates and murder, and solves them through odd logic and luck.
Who is Syrilla in the Philo Gubb stories?
Syrilla is the Fat Lady of a circus side show. Gubb falls in love with her, and her dieting telegrams, sent through her father, form a running joke.
Is Philo Gubb a collection of short stories?
Yes, it is a set of linked comic tales rather than one plot. Each story is a separate case with its own mystery, while characters like Billy Getz, Medderbrook and Marshal Wittaker keep returning.
What is the Utterly Hopeless Gold-Mine stock?
It is the worthless stock Jonas Medderbrook gives Gubb in place of a cash reward. Gubb must pay for it in installments, and it ties many of the stories together as he chases new rewards.
Is Philo Gubb easy to read?
The tales are short, lively and full of quick dialogue. Each case stands on its own, so you can enjoy one story at a time, and the humor of Gubb's solemn speeches comes through when read aloud.
