7 h 43 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when ordinary people break the rules—and must live with what follows?
In The Escape of Mr. Trimm, Irvin S. Cobb turns his sharp eye toward crime, guilt and people under pressure. The title story anchors a collection of short, tight tales in plain settings. Here, the question is less how clever a criminal can be than what wrongdoing does to a person.
Cobb brings a newspaperman's close attention to this crooked world. Greed, pride, fear and stubbornness shape people across differences of rank. His humor still finds its way into tense scenes, but these stories take a darker path than his comic sketches of Southern life. Human nature matters as much as the crime.
What you’ll discover
- Crime with a human cost Follow people who must face not just wrongdoing, but the burden of what comes after.
- A reporter's watchful eye Discover how close observation gives ordinary settings and troubled people their weight.
- Humor in dark places Find the wry remarks that slip into tense scenes without softening their dark edge.
- Ordinary rules under strain Watch fear, pride and greed surface when familiar limits begin to loosen.
- Short tales that hold you Enter compact stories that bring crime and consequence close enough to feel personal.
Who will love it
For readers who love short stories with sharp endings, Southern voices, old newsrooms, and crime told through character. It suits anyone who likes a tale that can be read in one sitting.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A banker meets the Grips of the Law
- A wreck sets the prisoner free
- Trimm and the stubborn handcuffs
- The tramp, the cliff and the cuffs
- A swamp, a squire and a buzzard
- Two fugitives and a room full of flies
- Major Stone, the gentleman reporter
- A feud, a pardon and a promise
- Old grudges, an ugly lake and a fair trial
Who’s who
- Hobart W. TrimmA proud, cold banker sentenced to twelve years, who sees a chance to vanish after a train wreck and cannot shake his handcuffs.
- Squire H. B. GathersAn old, careful justice of the peace who believes he has hidden a killing and is haunted by buzzards and a bell.
- Major Putnam StoneA shabby, long-winded Confederate veteran turned failing reporter, who clings to his honor and his twelve dollars a week.
- DevoreThe quick-tempered city editor of the Evening Press, who cannot stand the major and wants a paper that is modern and lively.
- Anse DugmoreA silent Kentucky mountaineer in prison for a feud killing, who thinks only of the two small children he left behind.
- Judge PriestA kindly, round Southern judge who wants to heal a fifty-year quarrel between two aging neighbors before it is too late.
- FishheadA solitary man with a catfish face who lives on Reelfoot Lake and is feared by every neighbor.
- Isidore WeilA police lieutenant and former court interpreter who is brought to trial and explains his own actions in his own words.
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- Audiobook
- 7 h 43 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Escape of Mr. Trimm
by Irvin S. Cobb · 1913
A banker worth four million dollars, handcuffed after a train wreck, cannot get his wrists free.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
A man with four million dollars finds that a pair of steel cuffs is a bigger problem than any bank. So begins The Escape of Mr. Trimm, nine tales by Irvin S. Cobb, a Kentucky humorist and newspaper man.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A banker meets the Grips of the Law
Hobart W. Trimm, once president of the Thirteenth National Bank, rides toward federal prison. He has twelve years for wrecking his bank. His blind accomplice, Cashier Copley, got less time and almost no notice, while Trimm got columns of newspaper space and a comfortable cell in the Tombs, the big New York jail.
In the warden's office, Deputy Marshal Meyers unrolls a handkerchief and shows a pair of handcuffs. Trimm holds out his hands. The man who has bent the law all his life feels its grip for the first time, and it makes him sick.
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What is The Escape of Mr. Trimm about?
It is a collection of nine stories by Irvin S. Cobb. They include a handcuffed banker on the run, a haunted murderer, a feud, a newsroom comedy and a courtroom scene, all centered on crime and conscience.
Who is Mr. Trimm?
Hobart W. Trimm is a New York banker sentenced to twelve years for wrecking his bank. A railroad accident gives him a chance to flee, but the handcuffs on his wrists stay locked.
What is the Belled Buzzard?
It is a legendary bird said to wear a cowbell around its neck, reported across the South. In Cobb's story it becomes a sign of guilt to a man who has hidden a crime.
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