Easy Money

William Wymark JacobsProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 20K words
Chapters: 3

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.Easy Money by W. W. JacobsAuthor: Jacobs, W. W. (William Wymark), 1863-1943,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 1, 2004

Editor's review

Easy Money is a short work by W. W. Jacobs, released as a free e-book by Project Gutenberg. Jacobs excels at light, humorous writing about how ordinary people react to money, opportunity, and misunderstanding, and the title itself hints at a money-related comic theme. As a public-domain English text, it is short and plain in language, suited to casual reading on a commute or a break. Readers can appreciate the ingenuity of plot construction in the English short story and the author's gentle teasing of small human weaknesses. Since the Gutenberg edition has no introduction or notes, the book is better suited to readers who already have some English reading habits and are willing to savor the text on their own. It is not a weighty scholarly text but light literary entertainment, suitable as one of the introductory works for understanding Jacobs's creative profile.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English readers who enjoy humorous short stories and want light reading in their spare time
Readers interested in money and human nature, who can appreciate the author's gentle satire
General readers with some English foundation who want to try public-domain originals
Learners who need short materials for English reading practice

Not a good fit for

English beginners who rely on detailed notes and background introductions—the book lacks supporting materials
Readers who prefer serious literature or in-depth analysis—the book is mainly light and amusing
Readers hoping for a complete full-length story—the short length may feel thin

Reading tips

Read through the whole text first to grasp the story's direction, then revisit key dialogues to sense the characters' psychological shifts in the face of money
After each piece, retell the plot in three sentences to test your understanding of the English narrative
Mark the humorous passages and compare them with your own life experience to think about where the humor comes from
If time is limited, read only one complete short piece at a time to avoid fragmenting the plot

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 by the same author as Night Watches?

Yes. Both books are by W. W. Jacobs and both were released by Project Gutenberg. Both are light humorous short pieces and can be read in comparison.

Does the book include a Chinese translation?

No. The Gutenberg edition is the original English text without a Chinese translation, so readers need basic English reading ability.

Is this book suitable for intensive or extensive reading?

It is better suited to extensive reading. The book has no notes or exercises, and the stories are light, so it suits interest-driven casual reading; intensive reading would require readers to supply background materials themselves.

Why is there no table of contents or introduction?

Project Gutenberg mainly provides the original text of public-domain e-books and usually does not add modern introductions, tables of contents, or notes, so readers must organize their reading order themselves.

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About the author

William Wymark Jacobs Author · British · 1863–1943

William Wymark Jacobs (1863–1943) was a British short-story writer, born in London in 1863 and died there in 1943. In his early years he lived around the Thames docks and was familiar with the lives of sailors and dockworkers, which led him to write a great many humorous sea stories, often in a light and witty tone. His best-known work, The Monkey's Paw, is a classic horror short story included in The Lady of the Barge (1902); noted for its tight suspense and sudden twists, it is still widely anthologized in horror collections. The library holds 109 of his works, including The Lady of the Barge and Others, Ship's Company, A Tiger's Skin, Captains All, and Night Watches; his common category is inspirational growth. Public information is limited and details of his life are largely unavailable, yet his fiction is distinctive in subject, blending humor with horror, and has had a lasting influence on later short-story writing.