"The Inventions of the Idiot" is a humorous novel written by John Kendrick Bangs. The book follows the adventures of the titular "Idiot," who is a bumbling inventor and self-proclaimed genius. Despite his many failures, the Idiot remains confident in his abilities and continues to come up with new and bizarre inventions. Throughout the book, the Idiot creates a variety of ridiculous contraptions, from a machine that can turn lead into gold to a flying bicycle powered by the wind. However, his inventions always seem to go wrong, leading to hilarious and disastrous consequences. Along the way, the Idiot also finds himself caught up in a variety of absurd situations, such as accidentally becoming president of the United States and marrying the Queen of England. The novel is full of witty humor and satire, poking fun at the overly confident. The story also serves as a commentary on the obsession with technology and innovation that was prevalent during the 20th century.
John Kendrick Bangs published his book A House-Boat on the Styx in 1895. In it, Charon, the main character, learns that he has been selected to serve as the Styx, the river that circles the underworld, cleaner. The advent of a houseboat on the River Styx startles and irritates Charon at the start of the novel.The next eleven stories (for a total of twelve) are all set on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the reason the book has all the earmarks of being a scholarly psychological study. Each chapter is a brief story about a different soul from mythology and history. The Pursuit of the House-Boat, the sequel, begins when the house boat vanishes.There don't seem to be any original fictitious characters in A House-Boat on the Styx. All have been borrowed, in varying degrees, from mythology or history.Throughout the book, there is a running joke that claims Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Walter Raleigh, and others ghostwrote Shakespeare's plays instead of him.
