Ben Blair

Will LillibridgeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 502K words
Chapters: 51

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Ben Blair by Will LillibridgeAuthor: Lillibridge, Will, 1878-1909,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 24, 2006

Editor's review

Ben Blair is one of the few surviving novels by Will Lillibridge and belongs to the tradition of early twentieth-century American popular fiction. Digitized by Project Gutenberg, it is back in circulation, offering general readers and researchers an accessible entry point to this author who died young. The work continues the era's common traditions of the coming-of-age and regional novel; its character relationships and emotional conflicts are fairly direct, and its narrative pace is brisk, making it a useful sample for understanding what American fiction of the early 1900s looked like. The electronic edition follows the original book's content; of moderate length, it is well suited to reading in segments during a commute or in short sessions. Readers may treat it as a side portrait of literary history: it shows how popular fiction shaped ordinary people's imagination of fate, and the text also offers a window onto the language habits and social attitudes of the period. Since biographical material on the author is limited, there is no need to rush toward a "canonical" interpretation; it is better appreciated as a story full of period atmosphere, noting in the unfolding plot the motives and costs of the characters' choices.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in early twentieth-century American popular fiction
Those who want a light text to learn about the Project Gutenberg catalog
Learners seeking English fiction for extensive reading practice
Literature enthusiasts curious about the author Lillibridge and his era

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting contemporary pacing and strong plot twists
Scholars of classic literature requiring in-depth academic annotation or critical introductions
Readers who prefer nonfiction or documentary works

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the main storyline; there is no need to look up every unfamiliar expression.
On a second reading, mark points where character relationships change and observe how the author advances conflict.
If using it for English extensive reading, read one or two chapters at a time and briefly retell the content.
After reading, compare it with American novels of the same period to note similarities and differences in subject matter and narrative method.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?

It is an English-language work released as an ebook by Project Gutenberg; the text is in English and suits readers with some foundation in English reading.

What other well-known works did Lillibridge write?

The available information only shows his dates, 1878–1909, and his inclusion of this book. His output was limited and not widely circulated, so it is unwise to infer more representative works from this; it is better to start with this book and consult bibliographies yourself.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg was the earliest project to offer free ebooks; this book is an electronic edition it prepared and released, easy to obtain and search for free, but it usually contains no modern scholarly notes or introduction.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Will Lillibridge Author · American · 1878–1909

The American novelist Will Lillibridge (1878–1909) was born in 1878 in the Dakota Territory. He studied dentistry and practiced in Sioux Falls, writing at night while seeing patients by day. In his short life he left four works, winning fame with the Western novels Ben Blair and Where the Trail Divides, as well as The Dominant Dollar and the story collection A Breath of Prairie and other stories. His writing often draws on life in the American West and on the prairie, centering on personal choices and growth within frontier settings, with plain narration that emphasizes turning points in his characters' fates; for this reason his works are classed here as inspirational growth. Public information is limited, and details of his life and the full range of his work remain to be verified. He died in Sioux Falls on January 29, 1909, at the age of only 31.