Parrot & Co.

MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 313K words
Chapters: 32

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.Parrot & Co. by Harold MacGrathAuthor: MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 24, 2006

Editor's review

Parrot & Co. is a popular novel by Harold MacGrath, an author known for ingenious plots and brisk dialogue, whose works often blend romance with adventure. The story unfolds around the name "Parrot & Co.", and its character relationships and turns of event bear the distinct mark of early American popular fiction—an easy read with no shortage of twists. As a public-domain eBook in the Project Gutenberg collection, it preserves the original English text; moderate in length, it suits English-literature enthusiasts as leisure reading. Readers can enjoy it over a weekend or on a journey and feel the narrative rhythm of early twentieth-century American popular fiction; they may also treat it as a sample for observing how popular fiction of the time organized suspense and character relationships, reading it alongside works of the same era to appreciate the shared techniques and period flavor of genre writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers who enjoy brisk plots and dialogue
Learners who want to practice English reading with public-domain novels
Readers interested in early twentieth-century American popular fiction
Readers looking for leisure reading of moderate length

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking weighty classics or deeply literary works
Readers with weak English who cannot read original novels independently
Readers not interested in the romance-adventure genre

Reading tips

Read chapter by chapter, noting how character relationships and turning points are set up
Read a chapter or two first to gauge the style, then decide between close and casual reading
Mark unfamiliar words and look them up after finishing a section
After finishing, review the main characters and key turning points to check overall understanding

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 the text a complete original?

This is a public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg, offering the original English text rather than an abridgment or adaptation. Readers get the full text as originally published, suitable for reading in its original form.

Can I read it if my English is average?

This is popular fiction with fairly straightforward sentences and dialogue, but it is still original English. Readers with intermediate English can finish it with a dictionary; those with weaker basics are advised to sample the first few pages before deciding.

Is the style similar to the author's other works?

MacGrath is known for popular plots and brisk dialogue, and this book continues those traits. If you have read similar works by him, you will adapt quickly to the narrative pace; if not, this book is a good place to start and get a feel for his style.

Comments

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About the author

MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932 Author

Harold MacGrath (1871–1932) was an American novelist known for tightly plotted, adventure-filled popular fiction. His stories often feature princesses, royal courts, and mistaken identities, moving at a brisk pace with strong dramatic and romantic flavor suited to a broad readership. The library holds twenty-two of his works, including The Goose Girl, The Princess Elopes, Arms and the Woman, Hearts and Masks, The Puppet Crown, The Adventures of Kathlyn, The Best Man, and The Drums of Jeopardy; even the titles suggest his taste for exotic settings, suspense, and adventure. Because public information is limited, details of his life cannot be given in depth, but his works were popular with readers in the early twentieth century, and some were adapted into early films, showing his influence in popular storytelling.