George F. Hummel

Subsoil George F. Hummel

Published in 1924, Subsoil, by George F. Hummel, is a collection of short stories about Southold- which Hummel called "Norwold"- a small village on the eastern tip of Long Island, and its residents. Praised by the New York Times in 1924 as a "definite, constructive piece of writing, remarkably free from preconceptions and misinterpretations... that stands definitely on the plane of the universal", Subsoil is a brutally frank, insightful, and entertaining look at the denizens of this isolated rural community of Long Island, circa. 1920. Hummel was the Garrison Keillor of his time , poking fun at conventions, and piercing the veneer of normalcy underlying life in the seemingly placid town. The book has been reissued, with an introduction by Harry Katz, who lives within 100 yards of Hummel's homestead, for the first time in 84 years.