The Devil and Daniel Webster (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Stephen Vincent Benet (Author), Townsend Ludington (Contributor) "It goes back to the early days-may God profit all who lived then-and the ancestors..." (more)
Key Phrases: Jimmy Williams, Tim O'Halloran, Professor Malzius (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A spirited selection from one of the most highly prized American writers of the twentieth century

Before his premature death in 1943, Stephen Vincent Benet was one of America's most prolific poets, novelists, and short-story writers. He is also, along with Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, and Robert Penn Warren, the only author to receive two Pulitzer prizes for his poetry. Featured in this anthology of his writings is a generous selection of his verse, anchored by his two Pulitzer Prize- winning poems, John Brown's Body and Western Star. Hailed by the New York Times as "an American Iliad," John Brown's Body (1929) is an epic chronicle of the Civil War, from the raid on Harper's Ferry to General Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

Through a versatile array of masterly short stories, Benet explored such subjects as American society, history, politics, and the supernatural. Among the two dozen stories selected for this volume are the haunting title story and the wrenching "A Death in the Country." A final section representing Bent's nonfiction collects several of his penetrating essays on writing and education, including "Most Unforgettable Character I've Known." Sensitively selected and thoughtfully arranged, this vibrant anthology will reintroduce readers to an American master.

About the Author
Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943), poet, novelist, and short-story writer, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His Pulitzer Prize-winning poem John Brown's Body is still considered the quintessential American war poem. He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1943.

Townsend Ludington is the Boshamer Distinguished Professor of English and American Literature at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is the editor of the Penguin Classics edition of Dos Passos' Three Soldiers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140437401
• ISBN-13: 978-0140437409
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #936,970 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lost Treasure Resurfaces, July 12, 2000

By	Joan Campion (Fountain Hill, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Following Stephen Vincent Benet's untimely death in 1943, his literary reputation plummeted. He, who had been one of America's most admired and popular writers, seemed to vanish from literary memory. Now, though, we have Townsend Ludington's brilliant and insightful anthology of Benet's works, reminding us of the range and power and beauty we have been missing. Benet is indeed a national treasure, and it will be to our shame if we ever let his contributions be lost again. Three or four of his works have entered the public consciousness--unfortunately, to the point at which people tend to think of them as mythic or folkloric, without a known author. Among these is the anthology's title story, "The Devil and Daniel Webster," some excerpts from the distinguished Civil War narrative poem "John Brown's Body," and the story "By The Waters of Babylon," which has been dubbed the original of the post-apocalyptic horror genre of science fiction. All the Benet you are likely to know is in this anthology, plus things you didn't know about before that are likely to delight you. You will meet Benet the yarn-spinner in new guises-- a story like "The Minister's Books" is a chilling read for a Halloween evening, scarier by far than the more famous "The Devil and Daniel Webster," at least to this reviewer's taste. "Jacob and the Indians" is not only a colorful tale based on history, but a lyrical vision of America as Benet saw it--not perfect, but a land with at least the potential to be a Promised Land for everyone. This book shows us Benet the humorist, Benet the lover, Benet the insightful social commentator, Benet the poet of issues both intimate and cosmic. He was a man with healthy values, and he is able to communicate those values sometimes with a chuckle and sometimes with the equivalent of a hammer blow. But always entertainingly. One of the functions of fine literature is to make the reader's hair stand on end--and if anybody can accomplish this, it is Benet. Buy and read this anthology. My guess is that you not only won't be sorry--you will want more Benet.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a worthy legend for America and for Webster, May 17, 2002

By	Orrin C. Judd "brothersjudddotcom" (Hanover, NH USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A young nation, built on reason and skepticism, America doesn't have a whole lot of myths and legends. With the possible exception of Parson Weem's tales of
young George Washington, the stories of Washington Irving, and a few tall tales like Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and John Henry, the best might be found in Stephen
Vincent Benet's Faust-influenced but distinctly American short story and screenplay, The Devil and Daniel Webster, which has also been adapted for the stage and
turned into an opera.

Jabez Stone of Cross Corners, New Hampshire is a man of little luck, until, with his wife and children ill and a whitlow on his own thumb, he barks :

I vow it's enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devill And I would, too, for two cents!

With that, a stranger appears and Jabez makes a deal, signing it in blood, which changes his luck drastically.

Over the next ten years, Stone prospers, becoming wealthy and an important man in politics. But with his mortgage to the stranger coming due, Jabez Stone regrets
the deal he's made and pays a visit to his neighbor, Daniel Webster, of Mansfield, NH--the nation's greatest lawyer and New England's most revered citizen--to see
if Mr. Webster will take him on as a client and see if there's not some way out of the deal. A lesser man might balk at the prospect of such a fight, but Daniel
Webster has a special regard for his constituents and cheerfully assures Jabez that they'll prevail :

For if two New Hampshiremen aren't a match for the devil, we might as well give the country back to the Indians.

Webster's first ploy is to challenge the stranger's right to prey upon Americans :

'Mr. Stone is an American citizen, and no American citizen may be forced into the service of a foreign prince. We fought England for that
in ë12 and weíll fight all hell for it again!'

'Foreign?' said the stranger. 'And who calls me a foreigner?'

'Well, I never yet heard of the dev -- of your claiming American citizenship,' said Dan'l Webster with surprise.

'And who with better right?' said the stranger, with one of his terrible smiles. 'When the first wrong was done to the first Indian, I was there.
When the first slaver put out for the Congo, I stood on her deck. Am I not in your books and stories and beliefs, from the first settlements on?
Am I not spoken of, still, in every church in New England? 'Tis true the North claims me for a Southerner, and the South for a Northerner,
but I am neither. I am merely an honest American like yourself--and of the best descent--for, to tell the truth, Mr. Webster,
though I don't like to boast of it, my name is older in this country than yours.'

This prompts Webster to recourse to Stone's rights as an American :

'Aha!' said Dan'l Webster, with the veins standing out in his forehead. 'Then I stand on the Constitution! I demand a trial for my client!'

'The case is hardly one for an ordinary court,' said the stranger, his eyes flickering. 'And, indeed, the lateness of the hour-'

'Let it be any court you choose, so it is an American judge and an American jury!' said Dan'l Webster in his pride.
'Let it be the quick or the dead; I'll abide the issue!'

And so begins a trial, presided over by Justice Hathorne, who likewise oversaw the Salem Witch Trials, with a jury made up of the likes of Walter Butler, Simon
Girty, King Philip, Reverend John Smeet, and Morton of Merry Mount. Inevitably, even these dastards are swayed by the rhetorical power of Daniel Webster and
Jabez is released from his contract. The stranger good-naturedly conceding :

'Perhaps 'tis not strictly in accordance with the evidence,' he said, 'but even the damned may salute the eloquence of Mr. Webster.'

Despite this graciousness, Daniel Webster grabs and threatens him, but then relents to his pleading. In exchange for being let go, the stranger predicts Webster's
future for him. The stranger well knows of Webster's desire to be president one day and of his pride in his speaking ability. He warns that the dream will never come
true and, perversely, the ambition will be thwarted by Webster's own talent :

'[T]he last great speech you make will turn many of your own against you,' said the stranger. 'They will call you Ichabod; they will call you
by other names. Even in New England some will say you have turned your coat and sold your country, and their voices will be loud against
you till you die.'

Webster takes the news surpassing well and in turn receives an assurance :

'So it is an honest speech, it does not matter what men say,' said Dan'l Webster. Then he looked at the stranger and their glances locked.

'One question,' he said. 'I have fought for the Union all my life. Will I see that fight won against those who would tear it apart?'

'Not while you live,' said the stranger, grimly, 'but it will be won. And after you are dead, there are thousands who will fight for your cause,
because of words that you spoke."

'Why, then, you long-barreled, slab-sided, lantern-jawed, fortune-telling note shaver!' said Dan'l Webster, with a great roar of laughter,
'be off with you to your own place before I put my mark on you! For, by the thirteen original colonies, I'd go to the Pit itself to save the Union!'

Sure enough, Webster's great speech in favor of the Missouri Compromise in 1850 would ensure its passage but with its provision for admitting a new slave state to
the Union would make him anathema to hardcore abolitionists and doom his presidential hopes.

Benet helped adapt this story for the screen and it made for one of the really underrated great American films. With sterling performances by Edward Arnold as
Webster and Walter Huston as the stranger, here called Mr. Scratch, the middle portion of the story, detailing Jabez Stone's rising fortunes and declining character,
is greatly expanded. This is problematic because James Craig as Jabez is pretty nondescript, but Jane Darwell as his mother and Simone Simon as a sultry vixen who
becomes the Stone's housemaid help to carry us through until the trial starts.

One interesting aspect of Benet's tale is his refusal to let his countrymen off the hook; the Devil is obviously integral to the American experience and though Webster
matches the Devil in the end, he too hears the siren call of Mr. Scratch. In the end though Webster is redeemed by his all consuming love of the nation :

And they say that if you go to his grave and speak loud and clear, 'Dan'l Webster--Dan'l Webster!' the ground'll begin to shiver and the trees
begin to shake. And after a while you'll hear a deep voice saying. 'Neighbor, how stands the Union?' Then you better answer the Union stands
as she stood, rock-bottomed and copper-sheathed, one and indivisible, or he's liable to rear right out of the ground.

What a worthy legend for America and for one of the greatest of her citizens.

GRADE : A

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The complicate made humorous, March 21, 2000

By	Doug Maliszewski (Jamesurg NJ USA) - See all my reviews

The book is the perfect companion for a rainy night. Benet is startling in his lucid and gentle exposure of the myriad of character flaws the has plagued humanity since the beginning. He died during the second world war after dedicating his talents to exposing the true mission of the axis cause. His "Into Egypt" is the perfect vehicle to describe racial intolerance and historical short-sightedness, while the Devil and Daniel Webster sheds humorous light upon a bygone era of american folklore, this book is not to be missed in anyones lifetime. Anyone who has had a bad experience purchasing a product that needs assembly should reference his "Letter to Bloomingdale's:-" for he demonstrates how to get all your points across and still not compromise personal integrity.