Books with title Ragged Dick

"Wake up there, youngster," said a rough voice. Ragged Dick opened his eyes slowly, and stared stupidly in the face of the speaker, but did not offer to get up. "Wake up, you young vagabond!" said the man a little impatiently; "I suppose you'd lay there all day, if I hadn't called you." "What time is it?" asked Dick. "Seven o'clock." "Seven o'clock! I oughter've been up an hour ago. I know what 'twas made me so precious sleepy. I went to the Old Bowery last night, and didn't turn in till past twelve." "You went to the Old Bowery? Where'd you get your money?" asked the man, who was a porter in the employ of a firm doing business on Spruce Street. "Made it by shines, in course. My guardian don't allow me no money for theatres, so I have to earn it." "Some boys get it easier than that," said the porter significantly. "You don't catch me stealin', if that's what you mean," said Dick. "Don't you ever steal, then?" "No, and I wouldn't. Lots of boys does it, but I wouldn't." "Well, I'm glad to hear you say that. I believe there's some good in you, Dick, after all." "Oh, I'm a rough customer!" said Dick. "But I wouldn't steal. It's mean."

Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks is a Bildungsroman by Horatio Alger Jr., which was serialized in Student and Schoolmate in 1867 and expanded for publication as a full-length novel in May 1868 by the publisher A. K. Loring. It was the first volume in the six-volume Ragged Dick Series and became Alger's best-selling work. The tale follows a poor bootblack's rise to middle-class respectability in 19th-century New York City. It had a favorable reception. Student and Schoolmate reported their readers were delighted with the first installment, and Putnam's Magazine thought boys would love the novel. One modern scholar considers the story a "puerile fantasy" about class assimilation. The plot and theme were repeated in Alger's subsequent novels and became the subject of parodies and satires.

"Wake up there, youngster," said a rough voice. Ragged Dick opened his eyes slowly, and stared stupidly in the face of the speaker, but did not offer to get up. "Wake up, you young vagabond!" said the man a little impatiently; "I suppose you'd lay there all day, if I hadn't called you." "What time is it?" asked Dick. "Seven o'clock." "Seven o'clock! I oughter've been up an hour ago. I know what 'twas made me so precious sleepy. I went to the Old Bowery last night, and didn't turn in till past twelve." "You went to the Old Bowery? Where'd you get your money?" asked the man, who was a porter in the employ of a firm doing business on Spruce Street. "Made it by shines, in course. My guardian don't allow me no money for theatres, so I have to earn it." "Some boys get it easier than that," said the porter significantly. "You don't catch me stealin', if that's what you mean," said Dick. "Don't you ever steal, then?" "No, and I wouldn't. Lots of boys does it, but I wouldn't." "Well, I'm glad to hear you say that. I believe there's some good in you, Dick, after all." "Oh, I'm a rough customer!" said Dick. "But I wouldn't steal. It's mean."

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Ragged Dick is Horatio Alger's most notorious short story that helped shaped American identity and shed light on the number and severity of boys living on the street in New York. Listen about how Ragged Dick starts out as a street boy and bootblack and eventually pulls himself up by his bootstraps. Horatio Alger was once crowned America's best-selling author of all time. His works are back, and they sound like never before. Audiobooks come alive with commentary, author biography, study questions, and more. You will fall in love with these stories of success!

"Ragged Dick" was contributed as a serial story to the pages of the Schoolmate, a well-known juvenile magazine, during the year 1867. While in course of publication, it was received with so many evidences of favor that it has been rewritten and considerably enlarged, and is now presented to the public as the first volume of a series intended to illustrate the life and experiences of the friendless and vagrant children who are now numbered by thousands in New York and other cities. Several characters in the story are sketched from life. The necessary information has been gathered mainly from personal observation and conversations with the boys themselves. The author is indebted also to the excellent Superintendent of the Newsboys' Lodging House, in Fulton Street, for some facts of which he has been able to make use. Some anachronisms may be noted. Wherever they occur, they have been admitted, as aiding in the development of the story, and will probably be considered as of little importance in an unpretending volume, which does not aspire to strict historical accuracy. The author hopes that, while the volumes in this series may prove interesting stories, they may also have the effect of enlisting the sympathies of his readers in behalf of the unfortunate children whose life is described, and of leading them to co-operate with the praiseworthy efforts now making by the Children's Aid Society and other organizations to ameliorate their condition.

Horatio Alger's rags to riches novel was instrumental in perpetuating the myth of social mobility in the nineteenth century: the idea that anyone can pull himself up by his own bootstraps through hard work and persistence. The book was incredibly popular when it was first serialized in 1867 and became a cultural theme seen throughout the Gilded Age.