Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a ‘Natural Born Durn’d Fool’

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July 14, 2026

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Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a “Natural Born Durn’d Fool” is a collection of humorous tales by American humorist George Washington Harris. The stories are narrated by the fictional character Sut Lovingood, a shiftless and self-deprecating frontiersman. Sut tells these bawdy backwoods tales in a colorful vernacular. Harris, who was also a steamboat captain, published his humorous tales in various publications, with the best of them collected in this 1867 book. The tales immerse the reader in a world of fantasy where everyday events like camp meetings and horse races come vividly to life with humor.12

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Sut Lovingood
…the lively, uneducated protagonist of Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a “Natural Born Durn’d Fool” (1867), a collection of bawdy backwoods tales by American humorist George Washington Harris. Sut, a shiftless, self-deprecating frontiersman, narrates the tales in colourful vernacular.
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…the lively, uneducated protagonist of Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a “Natural Born Durn’d Fool” (1867), a collection of bawdy backwoods tales by American humorist George Washington Harris. Sut, a shiftless, self-deprecating frontiersman, narrates the tales in colourful vernacular.
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George Washington Harris
…best of them, published in Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a “Natural Born Durn’d Fool” (1867), in the words of a leading critic, surpassed anything before Twain, who himself knew and liked the tales. Harris’ tales are introduced by his comic narrator, Sut Lovingood, who takes the reader into a…
Read More
…best of them, published in Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a “Natural Born Durn’d Fool” (1867), in the words of a leading critic, surpassed anything before Twain, who himself knew and liked the tales. Harris’ tales are introduced by his comic narrator, Sut Lovingood, who takes the reader into a…
Read More