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Horatio Alger's rags-to-riches juvenile novels of poor boys parlaying "luck and pluck'' into "fame and fortune"' did much to shape and popularize the American success myth. This is a biography of the intensely private man. Ousted from a Unitarian pulpit in Brewster, Massachusetts, in 1866 for sodomizing young boys, Alger spent the final half of his life obscuring his past, and ordered all personal papers burned after his death in 1899. In 1927, the essential Alger was further obscured when Herbert Mayes published a fabricated biography based on a nonexistent diary which "exposed'' Alger as a lecher who wrote to fund his travels in pursuit of a married woman.
Horatio Alger Jr. January 13, 1832 - July 18, 1899) was an American writer, best known for his many young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty. His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which had a formative effect on the United States during the Gilded Age.All of Alger's juvenile novels share essentially the same theme, known as the "Horatio Alger myth" a teenage boy works hard to escape poverty. Often it is not hard work that rescues the boy from his fate but rather some extraordinary act of bravery or honesty. The boy might re...
Making His MarkBy Horatio Alger, Jr.
Selected Stories of Horatio Alger Jr. by Horatio Alger Jr.: Step into the world of rags-to-riches tales and moral lessons with Selected Stories of Horatio Alger Jr. Alger's timeless stories depict young protagonists overcoming adversity, demonstrating perseverance, honesty, and hard work on their journey toward success. Key Aspects of the Book “Selected Stories of Horatio Alger Jr.”: Features a collection of inspiring stories that embody the American dream, portraying characters who rise from humble beginnings to achieve success through determination and moral integrity. Explores themes of social mobility, ethics, and the pursuit of personal growth, resonating with readers of all ages an...
Studies the role of the popular writer in creating the American dream and reviews numerous stories extolling success through hard work and determination
Brave and Bold was the first in a new series of Alger novels published by Loring, and the first in which sex rears its head. Before Brave and Bold, the girls of the hero's age were sisters or simply prop figures. In this new book, Hester Paine, the lovely daughter of Millville's most prominent citizen and the reigning village belle, becomes a source of fascination and contention for "factory boy" hero Robert Rushton and his nemesis, the rich, snobbish, kid glove-wearing youth Halbert Davis. Brave and Bold hit a new high in Alger's work, according Edwin Hoyt, but Hoyt describes the story as a "fiasco."[3] Gary Scharnhorst describes it as "horrifying," and lists a shooting, a stabbing, and a suicide among the book's elements.[4] The book was reviewed by a reader of the children's magazine St. Nicholas; he described it as "of the sensational order" and was glad he did not meet its characters in real life. This was the last review of an Alger work published by the prestigious magazine. The book initiated the controversy over making Alger's works available to the young.
1909. Alger is the original rags-to-riches guy, often credited with inventing the strive-and-succeed spirit that inspired boys to work hard and advance themselves in order to achieve the American Dream. This theme resonates throughout his numerous writings. When his father dies suddenly, Frank Kavanaugh is forced to live with his uncle and aunt. Unwilling to support Frank, his uncle urges him to move out. Frank decides to move to New York City where he works in a variety of positions, eventually becoming a Telegraph Boy. On one of his assignments he is asked to work as an errand boy for an importer. The importer knows that one of his employees is stealing large amounts of money from him. Frank's assignment is to learn the identity of the thief. Frank does his best to solve this mystery, and along the way receives a gift that will impact his life immensely. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
A passage from the book..."Give me a ride?"Ben Barclay checked the horse he was driving and looked attentively at the speaker. He was a stout-built, dark-complexioned man, with a beard of a week's growth, wearing an old and dirty suit, which would have reduced any tailor to despair if taken to him for cleaning and repairs. A loose hat, with a torn crown, surmounted a singularly ill-favored visage. "A tramp, and a hard looking one!" said Ben to himself. He hesitated about answering, being naturally reluctant to have such a traveling companion. "Well, what do you say?" demanded the tramp rather impatiently. "There's plenty of room on that seat, and I'm dead tired." "Where are you going?" asked Ben. "Same way you are--to Pentonville." "You can ride," said Ben, in a tone by means cordial, and he halted his horse till his unsavory companion climbed into the wagon.
Reproduction of the original.