Although primarily remembered as a humorist, Barry Pain was a versatile, prolific writer and journalist whose work includes novels, detective stories, supernatural fiction, juvenile literature, parody, and poetry. His best-known works, which deal with working-class figures, offer a nonjudgmental view of lower-middle-class life, gently illustrating the foibles of human nature through a colorful cast of characters. Pain's short fiction was extremely popular during his lifetime, appearing in the popular periodicals of the day, including the Cornhill, the Strand, and the Idler. Most of the collections of his short pieces are taken from his voluminous magazine publications. Since his death Pain has been relegated to a position of undeserved obscurity, remaining virtually unread today except for a few anthologized short stories.

Barry Eric Odell Pain was born in Cambridge on 28 September 1864, the son of a linen draper, John Odell Pain, and his wife, Maria. Barry attended Sedbergh School from...