Book excerpt: The Reverberator was published in 1888 and was somewhat of a departure for Henry James as it is both lighter and easier to read than some of his other works. It was a short comedic novel, a satire on the manners and ways of Americans as innocents abroad and not the least, the means the media uses to sell newspapers (James based it on a case of irresponsible reporting in Florence). It first appeared in print in Macmillan's Magazine. It came out in book form later the same year in both London and New York. The title name refers to a gossipy newspaper that employs one George Flack, its ambitious reporter in Paris. He wants to see The Reverberator become a large international publication. One of Georgeís friends is pretty Francie Dosson, whom he has designs on himself. Francie, however, soon becomes engaged to Gaston Probert, an American by birth.