| The Prodigal Judge | |
| Author: | Vaughan Kester |
| Illustrator: | M. Leone Bracker |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Publisher: | Bobbs-Merrill Company |
| Pub Date: | March 11, 1911[1] |
| Media Type: | Print (hardcover) (448 p.) |
The Prodigal Judge is a novel written by American novelist Vaughan Kester and published in 1911.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Kester wrote the novel while living at Gunston Hall in Virginia. A best-seller, it was the second-best selling fiction book in the United States in 1911.[7] [8] [9] Kester died in July 1911, but not before enjoying the knowledge his book had reached the top of the bestseller lists.[10]
To promote the book, publisher Bobbs-Merrill Company held a "book review contest", with prizes of $250, $150, and $100 for the first through third best reviews published in the first month of the book's release, judged by a panel consisting of Yale University professor William Lyon Phelps, magazine editor John Sanborn Phillips, and writer William Allen White.[1] Third place went to H. L. Mencken.[11]
It debuted at the Bronx Opera House in December 1913 with George Fawcett playing the judge.[12]
It was also made into a silent film of the same title directed by Edward José, starring Jean Paige and Macklyn Arbuckle (as the judge), released in 1922.[13]