| Ragged Dick: or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks Contributor(s): Alger, Horatio (Author), Shipler, David K. (Introduction by) |
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ISBN: 0812973585 ISBN-13: 9780812973587 Publisher: Penguin Random House LLC (No Starch) OUR PRICE: $18.90 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2005 Annotation: "[Alger] was an utterly American artist . . . and the truth of his books is the truth of the power of the wish. . . . Alger was perhaps American capitalism's greatest and most effective propagandist." -Richard Wright Introduction by David K. Shipler Written to inspire schoolboys to strive for "honesty, industry, frugality, and a worthy ambition," the novels of Horatio Alger (1832--99) are infused with great humanity, broad humor, and a surprisingly sophisticated view of Gilded Age propriety. Central to Alger's philosophy is the notion that heroes like Ragged Dick, a poor boot-black, manage to get ahead by dint of hard work, resourcefulness, luck, pluck, and fair play. Alger's upwardly mobile heroes have become paragons of middle-class comfort and moral standing, and their journeys from rags to respectability have long been viewed as the very embodiment of the American Dream. In this Modern Library Paperback Classic, the text of Ragged Dick is set from the first American book edition of 1868. Includes a Modern Library Reading Group Guide. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Classics - Fiction | Literary - Fiction | Coming Of Age |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 2005043883 |
| Series: Modern Library (Paperback) |
| Physical Information: 0.44" H x 5.31" W x 8.01" (0.46 lbs) 192 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. - Demographic Orientation - Urban - Geographic Orientation - New York - Locality - New York, N.Y. - Sex & Gender - Masculine |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: " Alger] was an utterly American artist . . . and the truth of his books is the truth of the power of the wish. . . . Alger was perhaps American capitalism's greatest and most effective propagandist."-Richard Wright Introduction by David K. Shipler Written to inspire schoolboys to strive for "honesty, industry, frugality, and a worthy ambition," the novels of Horatio Alger (1832-99) are infused with great humanity, broad humor, and a surprisingly sophisticated view of Gilded Age propriety. Central to Alger's philosophy is the notion that heroes like Ragged Dick, a poor boot-black, manage to get ahead by dint of hard work, resourcefulness, luck, pluck, and fair play. Alger's upwardly mobile heroes have become paragons of middle-class comfort and moral standing, and their journeys from rags to respectability have long been viewed as the very embodiment of the American Dream. In this Modern Library Paperback Classic, the text of Ragged Dick is set from the first American book edition of 1868. Includes a Modern Library Reading Group Guide. |