The Man of No Account
by Bret HarteGenre: Romance
Setting:
Format of Original Source: Short Story
Recommended Adaptation Length:
Candidate for Adaptation? Not Likely
EXCERPT:
“I’m going home!”
“Going home?”
“Yes–that is, I think I’ll take a trip to the Atlantic States. I came to see you, as you know I have some little property, and I have executed a power of attorney for you to manage my affairs. I have some papers I’d like to leave with you. Will you take charge of them?”
“Yes,” I said. “But what of Nellie?”
His face fell. He tried to smile, and the combination resulted in one of the most startling and grotesque effects I ever beheld. At length he said:
“I shall not marry Nellie–that is”–he seemed to apologize internally for the positive form of expression–“I think that I had better not.”
COMMENTS:
A slight story, about a clownish man who strikes it rich, and then figgers the girl can’t actually love HIM. The central triangular love story is a good set-up, but the entire plot is missing from the story, and skips to the ironic conclusion. Not enough structure here to tell a proper story on a musical stage. But you might steal the central premise, and see if you can do something with it.
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