Other editions of book Adrift in New York

“I have made two wills. Both are in yonder secretary. By the first the property is bequeathed to you and Florence. By the second and later, it goes to my lost boy in the event of his recovery. Of course, you and Florence are not forgotten, but the bulk of the property goes to Harvey.” “I sincerely wish the boy might be restored to you,” said Curtis; but his tone belied his words. “Believe me, the loss of the property would affect me little, if you could be made happy by realizing your warmest desire; but, uncle, I think it only the part of a friend to point out to you, as I have already done, the baselessness of any such expectation.” “It may be as you say, Curtis,” said his uncle, with a sigh. “If I were thoroughly convinced of it, I would destroy the later will, and leave my property absolutely to you and Florence.”

Horatio Alger, Jr., was best known for his rags-to-riches stories dedicated to young adults and Adrift in New York is among his best novels. Though he himself never knew real poverty – his income dwindled during his last years, but his descriptions of the life of the poor were not inspired by his own experiences -, his writings offer a vivid account of penniless living and they offer something else as well: the hope that it is possible to make dreams of prosperity come true.Adrift in New York features the theme that became known as the Horatio Alger myth: the story about a young boy who lives in poverty and decides to escape from his circumstances by means of his intelligence and hard work. The recipe for Alger's stories also includes the appearance of a mentor for the hero and the lack of a romantic plot line – strangely, Alger's heroes never fall in love.The story of this novel starts with introducing a wealthy man, John Linden. He prepares a will in which he names his heirs – his long-disappeared son, his nephew, Curtis and his niece, Florence. In an attempt to convince Florence and Curtis to get married, Linden includes a clause in his testament that makes the marriage a condition for Florence to be able to come into her share of the inheritance. Curtis wants to get the entire inheritance, so he hires a boy called Dodge to steal the will. While Dodger is trying to accomplish what he has been hired for, she meets Florence who prevents the burglary and befriends Dodger. She decides to leave the Linden house and go to New York with Dodger to live in poverty. And who will the wealth of John Linden go to? It is a surprise left for the end of the novel.

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 return a large sum of lost money or rescue someone from an overturned carriage. This brings the boy—and his plight—to the attention of a wealthy individual. By the time he died in 1899, Alger had published around a hundred volumes. Scholar John Geck observes that Alger's themes have been transformed in modern America from their original meanings into a male Cinderella myth and are an Americanization of the traditional Jack tales. Each story has its clever hero, its "fairy godmother", and obstacles and hindrances to the hero's rise. "However", he writes, "the true Americanization of this fairy tale occurs in its subversion of this claiming of nobility; rather, the Alger hero achieves the American Dream in its nascent form, he gains a position of middle-class respectability that promises to lead wherever his motivation may take him". The reader may speculate what Cinderella achieved as Queen and what an Alger hero attained once his middle-class status was stabilized, and "[i]t is this commonality that xes Horatio Alger rmly in the ranks of modern adaptors of the Cinderella myth".This classic title has been published by RADLEY BOOKS. Each RADLEY CLASSIC is a meticulously restored, luxurious and faithful reproduction of a classic book; produced with elegant text layout, clarity of presentation, and stylistic features that make reading a true pleasure. Special attention is given to legible fonts and adequate letter sizing, correct line length for readability, generous margins and triple lead (lavish line separation); plus we do not allow any mistakes/changes/additions to creep into the author’s words.Visit RADLEY BOOKS at www.radleybooks.com (or search RADLEY CLASSIC on Amazon) to see more classic book titles in this series.