Old-Dad

Eleanor Hallowell AbbottProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 239K words
Chapters: 24

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.Old-Dad by Eleanor Hallowell AbbottAuthor: Abbott, Eleanor Hallowell, 1872-1958,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 18, 2015

Editor's review

Old-Dad is a novel by the American writer Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958), released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Abbott was an American popular-fiction writer of the early twentieth century whose works often treat family relationships and everyday emotions in a light, humorous tone, bearing the clear mark of the era's newspaper serial fiction. The title points to the father figure within the family, and from it alone one can glimpse the book's concern with affection and generational ties. As a public-domain text, its value lies not in a canonical place in literary history but in offering readers a sample of early twentieth-century American popular fiction's tastes and family narratives: the language is relatively light, the length suited to casual reading, and it works as supplementary material for the popular-fiction strand of an American literature course. The electronic edition is convenient to carry and search. Note that public-domain ebooks generally lack modern introductions and notes, so readers should acquaint themselves with the period background on their own.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American popular fiction
Casual readers who enjoy family themes and light, humorous narration
English literature students using it as supplementary reading in American popular fiction
Ebook users who want to read public-domain English classics for free

Not a good fit for

Serious literary readers seeking profound social critique and complex narrative structure
Readers who need modern notes and introductions to understand the period background
Learners with weak English reading skills who find older English usage hard to follow

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to get a feel for the narrative voice before deciding whether to read the whole book.
Understand the work in the context of early twentieth-century American popular fiction rather than judging it by modern standards.
Pay attention to the family members' dialogue and interactions, which are key to the book's appeal.
If used for a course, read it alongside works by American women writers of the same period.

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 suitable for English beginners?

The original is an early twentieth-century American English novel whose expression bears the marks of its time, so it poses some difficulty for beginners. Readers should first have fairly proficient English reading ability, or read chapter by chapter with a dictionary and other aids.

What kind of story does Old-Dad tell?

Judging from the title and the author's style, the book centers on the father figure within a family and is a popular novel on a family theme, with a light and humorous tone. The specific plot must be judged from the original text; this material provides no detailed synopsis.

Why are there no modern introductions or notes?

Project Gutenberg provides the original electronic text of public-domain works and generally does not add modern editors' introductions, notes, or textual scholarship. Readers who want background interpretation may consult literary histories and studies of the author separately.

What else did the author Eleanor Abbott write?

The material shows only that she lived from 1872 to 1958 and was an American writer. A specific list of her works and writing career requires specialized literary sources; this text offers no unverified supplementary information.

Comments

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About the author

Eleanor Hallowell Abbott Author · American · 1872–1958

Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958) was an American woman writer, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1872 and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1958. She came from a literary family; her grandfather was the children's author Jacob Abbott. She graduated from Radcliffe College, moved to New Hampshire after marriage, and long contributed to Ladies' Home Journal. Abbott wrote 14 romantic novels and 75 short stories in her lifetime, and this collection holds 10 of her works, including The White Linen Nurse, Little Eve Edgarton, Old-Dad, and Molly Make-Believe, commonly classified under inspirational growth. Public information on her early education and specific writing career is limited, but her surviving works show that she excelled at depicting warmth and growth in everyday life in a light, humorous tone, with vivid characters and approachable language, giving her a certain influence in early twentieth-century American popular literature.