The Touch of Abner

A comic, episodic tale centered on Abner Andrews and his household as reform efforts, visiting acquaintances, and local schemes unsettle small-town routines. Domestic upheavals, bungled good intentions, and a string of adventures — from social-service projects and a joy-ride to a hold-up, courtroom moments, rescues, and reconciliations — produce both slapstick incidents and touches of sentiment. The narrative balances broad humor about provincial manners and pretensions with quieter scenes that reveal generosity and personal change beneath the protagonists' rough exteriors.