The Jorkens stories are usually told in the “frame” of a gentlemen’s club in London, to which the narrator is invited in the first story, and of which he becomes a member. In general, Jorkens is sitting, and his attention is caught by someone else trying to tell a story, whereupon he provides a better story, in return, before or after or both, for whiskey. The stories often contain a “sting”, with Jorkens appearing to do something remarkable, or get rich, but missing out in the end, but in their lightness often also touch on bigger themes. The stories take place in a wide range of settings, most often in the UK and Ireland and parts of Africa, as well as India, and are of varied character. Some of the early stories are notably lengthy, while most of the later are shorter, some just a few pages. A recurrent skeptical character, Terbut, often provokes their telling while the narrator (Dunsany himself) tends to be sympathetic.
First Appearance “The Tale of the Abu Laheeb” in The Atlantic Monthly (July 1926)
First Publisher G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Appearance List Collections: The Travel Tales of Mr. Joseph Jorkens (1931), Jorkens Remembers Africa (1934), Jorkens Has a Large Whiskey (1940), The Fourth Book of Jorkens (1947), Jorkens Borrows Another Whiskey (1954), etc.
Sample Read “The Mermaid’s Husband” by Lord Dunsany (Cosmopolitan Oct 1930) [Internet Archive]
Description The Jorkens stories are usually told in the “frame” of a gentlemen’s club in London, to which the narrator is invited in the first story, and of which he becomes a member. In general, Jorkens is sitting, and his attention is caught by someone else trying to tell a story, whereupon he provides a better story, in return, before or after or both, for whiskey. The stories often contain a “sting”, with Jorkens appearing to do something remarkable, or get rich, but missing out in the end, but in their lightness often also touch on bigger themes. The stories take place in a wide range of settings, most often in the UK and Ireland and parts of Africa, as well as India, and are of varied character. Some of the early stories are notably lengthy, while most of the later are shorter, some just a few pages. A recurrent skeptical character, Terbut, often provokes their telling while the narrator (Dunsany himself) tends to be sympathetic.
