Who is Horatio Alger, Jr.

Horatio Alger Jr. (; January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was an American author who wrote young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through good works. 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: a teenage boy improves his circumstances by virtuous behavior. There is a "Horatio Alger myth" that the boy becomes wealthy through hard work, but this is inaccurate. In the actual stories, invariably the cause of success is an accident that works to the boy's advantage after he conducts himself according to traditional virtues such as honesty, c...
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Top 10 most used topics by Horatio Alger, Jr.

Good 18 Face 14 Live 13 Heart 13 God 11 Thought 11 Beneath 10 Time 9 Young 9 High 9


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Comments about Horatio Alger, Jr.

Larryladduu: today is the birthday of "rags to riches" writer horatio alger, jr., but to unitarians might be better known as one of the first cases of clergy misconduct.
Pauljimerson: birthday of horatio alger jr. b chelsea, ma (1832). odest of 5 kids, & he was nearsighted and asthmatic. he was accepted to harvard when he was 16, & he said, “no period of my life has been one of such unmixed happiness as the 4 years which have been spent within college walls.”
Viraarmstrong: horatio alger jr. january 13, 1832 – july 18, 1899) was an american author who wrote young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through good works.
Dannifoley: 4 of 5 stars to ragged dick by horatio alger jr.
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Poem of the day

Robert Service Poem
The Song Of The Mouth-Organ
 by Robert Service

(With apologies to the singer of the “Song of the Banjo”.)

I'm a homely little bit of tin and bone;
I'm beloved by the Legion of the Lost;
I haven't got a “vox humana” tone,
And a dime or two will satisfy my cost.
I don't attempt your high-falutin' flights;
I am more or less uncertain on the key;
...

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