On December 26, 1900, Paul Laurence Dunbar in Washington, D. C., discussed his novel The Sport of the Gods in a letter to his friend Brand Whitlock of Toledo, Ohio. Whitlock was also a writer, and the two men often shared support and criticism regarding their literary work.
I was really, and am still, perfectly barren of material and I had done three weeks ago nine short stories and a 48,000 word novel since September first. Lippincott's had asked me for a story of about 40,000 words and I sat down to do it. It came fast. So fast it took me just 30 days to finish what I consider my strongest effort. I call it "The Sport of the Gods" and Lippincott's are to have both the magazine and book rights of it.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Brand Whitlock, December 26, 1900. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 2).
The Sport of the Gods, Paul's fourth and final novel, is about a Southern Black family that experiences one tragedy after another when they leave the plantation and move to New York City. The May 1901 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine included the entire novel in 79 pages of uninterrupted text. It was not unusual for Lippincott's to publish a complete novel in a single issue.
The "new" Lippincott for May contains a complete novel by Paul Laurence Dunbar. It is an evident attempt of the author to do for the enfranchised negro what "Uncle Tom's Cabin" did for the negro in slavery.
"Notes and News." The New York Times (New York, New York). April 27, 1901. Page 304.
There is no more popular magazine than Lippincott's. It has been before the public for a long time, and that it is found so generally in the homes of the people is due to its merit. The May number is a particularly good one. The long story is entitled "The Sport of the Gods," and is by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
"Magazines." The Morning News (Savannah, Georgia). April 29, 1901. Page 7.
In letters to his literary agent Paul Reynolds and to his wife Alice, Paul mentioned that portions of The Sport of the Gods were removed prior to its appearance in the magazine. Anticipating a second publication in book form, Paul intended to restore those sections.
In response to your note of the 19th, I would say that I think it quite as well to give your English representative a sight of the new novel. It has gone with Lippincott though I have had to cut it down some for the magazine.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Paul R. Reynolds, November 25, 1900. Paul Laurence Dunbar collection, New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Microfilm edition, Roll 3).
You'll be glad to know that I am feeling better today and that my reading last night was a success, in fact an ovation. I want to start home next Saturday at the latest. They are scheming here in every way to keep me over time. Montgomery and Birmingham both want me, but I'm coming home, to do the Sport o' the Gods and go perhaps to Cleveland, Terre Haute, perhaps Lafayette and Chicago.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Moore Dunbar, April 20, 1901. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 8).
Darling, can it be that you will start Saturday? Will you please telegraph me what time your train will arrive? I do so want to be at the station to get a glimpse of you soon. Will you really come home that early? It seems too good to be true. But then you speak of running away again. That's the drop of wormwood to my cup of wine. And -- what do you mean by saying "You'll do the Sport of the Gods?" Please elucidate.
Alice Moore Dunbar to Paul Laurence Dunbar, April 22, 1901. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 8).
Hubbins is so tired he doesn't know what to do. He would just like to lay his head down on your breast and snuggle for hours. To think I come home day after tomorrow and shall be with you again. Yes, love, I will write you what time I shall arrive so that you may meet me, also that you may prepare the many things which I shall want to cure my dyspepsia after a trip on the train. By doing "The Sport of the Gods," I meant putting in what had been left out for the magazine.
Paul Laurence Dunbar to Alice Moore Dunbar, April 25, 1901. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 8).
When The Sport of the Gods appeared in book form, there were many differences from the version that was published in Lippincott's. Additional lines of development, dialogue and description were included, resulting in a somewhat longer and better story. For instance, this cynical depiction of a New York nightclub was not in the magazine version.
The place was a social cesspool, generating a poisonous miasma and reeking with the stench of decayed and rotten moralities. There is no defense to be made for it. But what do you expect when false idealism and fevered ambition come face to face with catering cupidity?
Excerpt from Chapter 9 of The Sport of the Gods by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Published by Dodd, Mead & Co. (New York, New York). 1902.
Toward the end of The Sport of the Gods, a young man commits a murder and is arrested and questioned by the police. This passage that shows the depth of his despair is not included in the Lippincott's edition of the novel.
The men who examined him were irritated beyond measure. There was nothing for them to exercise their ingenuity upon. He left them nothing to search for. Their most damning questions he answered with an apathy that showed absolutely no interest in the matter. It was as if someone whom he did not care about had committed a crime and he had been called to testify.
Excerpt from Chapter 15 of The Sport of the Gods by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Published by Dodd, Mead & Co. (New York, New York). 1902.