{"product_id":"horatio-alger-gender-and-success-in-the-gilded-age-ragged-dick-and-tattered-tom-paperback-softback-9781881089667","title":"Horatio Alger: Gender and Success in the Gilded Age; \"Ragged Dick\" and \"Tattered Tom\" (Paperback \/ softback) 9781881089667","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eHoratio Alger: Gender and Success in the Gilded Age\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003e\"Ragged Dick\" and \"Tattered Tom\"\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eCharles Orson Cook (Edited by), Cook (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781881089667, Wiley\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 12 October 2006\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e160 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.4 x 1 cm, 0.263 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eThe Horatio Alger myth has worked itself deeply into American culture. Even those who have never read one of his stories and many who could not identify him have come to believe that honest, industrious adolescents can easily rise from poverty to respectability. That conviction has reinforced notions of capitalism and the Protestant work ethic. It has also strengthened a sense of naïve optimism that in America things will always get better. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe two stories here, one of which violates convention by featuring a heroine rather than a hero, invite a close examination of how Alger’s fictional protagonists win out. Readers will discover that the often used phrase rags-to-riches does not describe the career of the typical Alger hero, whose progress is rather from adversity to a solid and respectable place in society. A critical introduction examines the ratio of reality to sentimentality in Alger’s work. And since the author intended the stories to be not time-bound but applicable and determinative in all circumstances, the tales invite speculation as to how relevant they are to the changed economic and social circumstances of later times.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eIntroduction. \u003cp\u003eTattered Tom.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRagged Dick.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: History [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on History\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22History%20%5BHB%5D%22\"\u003eHB\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52449431355672,"sku":"9781881089667","price":24.45,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781881089667.jpg?v=1785199110","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/horatio-alger-gender-and-success-in-the-gilded-age-ragged-dick-and-tattered-tom-paperback-softback-9781881089667","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}