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Dan, the newsboy
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
296 pages, Nook
First published January 1, 1893
2 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Horatio Alger Jr.
445 books97 followersHoratio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels about boys who succeed under the tutelage of older mentors were hugely popular in their day.
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard University at the age of sixteen. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following allegations he had sexual relations with two teenage boys.[1] He retired from the ministry and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His sympathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile rags to riches novels illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others. This widely held view involves Alger's characters achieving extreme wealth and the subsequent remediation of their "old ghosts." Alger is noted as a significant figure in the history of American cultural and social ideals. He died in 1899.
The first full-length Alger biography was commissioned in 1927 and published in 1928, and along with many others that borrowed from it later proved to be heavily fictionalized parodies perpetuating hoaxes and made up anecdotes that "would resemble the tell-all scandal biographies of the time."[2] Other biographies followed, sometimes citing the 1928 hoax as fact. In the last decades of the twentieth century a few more reliable biographies were published that attempt to correct the errors and fictionalizations of the past.
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard University at the age of sixteen. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following allegations he had sexual relations with two teenage boys.[1] He retired from the ministry and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His sympathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile rags to riches novels illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others. This widely held view involves Alger's characters achieving extreme wealth and the subsequent remediation of their "old ghosts." Alger is noted as a significant figure in the history of American cultural and social ideals. He died in 1899.
The first full-length Alger biography was commissioned in 1927 and published in 1928, and along with many others that borrowed from it later proved to be heavily fictionalized parodies perpetuating hoaxes and made up anecdotes that "would resemble the tell-all scandal biographies of the time."[2] Other biographies followed, sometimes citing the 1928 hoax as fact. In the last decades of the twentieth century a few more reliable biographies were published that attempt to correct the errors and fictionalizations of the past.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 3, 2018
Detective Dan Saves the Day
This is the first book I have read by this author, but going by the reviews he is very popular. Like so many books I buy, I came across this one by chance and it intrigued me. I read the sample and hit the “one-click” (soo easy).
Dan’s father was a wealthy businessman with a beautiful home and a wife who had everything she needed. Dan attended a private school and was receiving a fine education, when the bottom fell out of their world. Mr Mordaunt’s book-keeper absconded with the firm’s money leaving the family in dire circumstances. Several months later Dan’s father died leaving his wife and fifteen year-old Dan scraping a living while living in tenement housing and shunned by all their former “friends”. Dan has a gift for making new friends who help him in various ways, and he soon discovers that he is a pretty good thief catcher. A businessman, Mr Rogers, happens upon one of the incidents and gives Dan his card with instructions to call on him the following day, which he does, and is astonished to find himself employed as a detective to discover who is misappropriating funds. A couple of other things happen before this, but I will leave those for readers to discover.
Dan foils an attempted burglary at Mr Roger’s company and is appropriately rewarded and given some very sound advice. There is at least one more adventure for Dan before the conclusion of the story. I did find Dan just a bit too good to be true for a fifteen-year old boy, and while he did make the most of the opportunities he was given, he would probably have not bettered his lot and that of his mother without all the help he was given.
Never having heard of Horatio Alger, I looked him up and it seems his books are aimed at a YA audience and carry a standard plot-line with a few variations; boy in difficult circumstances makes good. The writing is good, although sentimental and has a moralistic tone which was very popular at the time (1884). I am not too sure I could read several books that are just variations on the same theme, but I did enjoy this one
This is the first book I have read by this author, but going by the reviews he is very popular. Like so many books I buy, I came across this one by chance and it intrigued me. I read the sample and hit the “one-click” (soo easy).
Dan’s father was a wealthy businessman with a beautiful home and a wife who had everything she needed. Dan attended a private school and was receiving a fine education, when the bottom fell out of their world. Mr Mordaunt’s book-keeper absconded with the firm’s money leaving the family in dire circumstances. Several months later Dan’s father died leaving his wife and fifteen year-old Dan scraping a living while living in tenement housing and shunned by all their former “friends”. Dan has a gift for making new friends who help him in various ways, and he soon discovers that he is a pretty good thief catcher. A businessman, Mr Rogers, happens upon one of the incidents and gives Dan his card with instructions to call on him the following day, which he does, and is astonished to find himself employed as a detective to discover who is misappropriating funds. A couple of other things happen before this, but I will leave those for readers to discover.
Dan foils an attempted burglary at Mr Roger’s company and is appropriately rewarded and given some very sound advice. There is at least one more adventure for Dan before the conclusion of the story. I did find Dan just a bit too good to be true for a fifteen-year old boy, and while he did make the most of the opportunities he was given, he would probably have not bettered his lot and that of his mother without all the help he was given.
Never having heard of Horatio Alger, I looked him up and it seems his books are aimed at a YA audience and carry a standard plot-line with a few variations; boy in difficult circumstances makes good. The writing is good, although sentimental and has a moralistic tone which was very popular at the time (1884). I am not too sure I could read several books that are just variations on the same theme, but I did enjoy this one
August 30, 2017
Plenty of Adventure
Yes, Alger follows a formula, but it's entertaining enough and offers moral lessons to the young. It also has examples of how to handle bullies or snobs. This was a fun read.
Yes, Alger follows a formula, but it's entertaining enough and offers moral lessons to the young. It also has examples of how to handle bullies or snobs. This was a fun read.
September 13, 2011
It is by no means a great work of literature, but interesting to read from a historical point of view. Horatio Alger tells the story of young boy from New York, thrust into the heart of poverty, but who makes his way up in the world through a combination of pluck and luck. Mostly luck. Although Dan does a good job of acting a gentleman and not wasting the money he comes across, fortune is practically dumped on his luck by several overly generous strangers who seem to take a liking to him out of nowhere. The writing is simplistic, and the plot not exactly thrilling (though it has its adventurous side), but it's not a terrible read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews