Clarence Budington Kelland

Clarence Budington (""Bud") Kelland (1881-1964) was an American writer who described himself as "the best second-rate writer in America". Largely forgotten now, Kelland had a long career as a writer of fiction and short stories, stretching from 1913 to 1960. He was published in many magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post and The American Magazine. His output also included sixty novels and some two hundred short stories. His best known juvenile...

Excerpt: "Binney Jenks, Tallow Martin, and I were sitting on Mark Tidd's front porch, waiting for him to get through supper. Maybe you've got an idea that didn't take any patience, but you want to change your mind pretty quick. Eating supper wasn't any two-second job with Marcus Aurelius Fortunatus Tidd. You can bet it wasn't. He didn't just grab a bite and run like us fellows do, but he sat down to the table with his stummick about six inches away...

A novel set in 1870s San Francisco against the backdrop of the Great Diamond Hoax.

Small-town guy Longfellow Deeds goes to New York City to collect a $40 billion inheritance from a long lost uncle, even living in a palatial mansion with the services of an unusual valet. Things get better when he mets a beautiful woman. But money changes everything, and things aren't what they seem - his sweetie is actually a journalist feeding reports of his outrageous behavior to the press! Now, its up to Deeds to straighten everybody out.

A serious-minded professor inherits $700,000 and decides to cut loose and see the world. He falls in love with an actress and finances the show she is to star in. Life is wonderful until he discovers that the letter announcing his inheritance was a fake.