Possessed

Cleveland MoffettProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 339K words
Chapters: 34

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.Possessed by Cleveland MoffettAuthor: Moffett, Cleveland, 1863-1926,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jul 26, 2007

Editor's review

Possessed is by the American writer Cleveland Moffett, prepared by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Moffett was active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and his writing often dealt with suspense and the supernatural; this book belongs to that vein. With possession as its central image, the work builds tension through plot development and bears the distinctive features of old-style popular fiction: direct suspense setup, heavy atmosphere, and fast pacing. For readers, its value lies in offering a window into early popular suspense writing and a sense of how that era handled psychological fear and supernatural themes. It is not long, making it a light reading sample of genre literature and also suitable as an English original for extensive reading. While reading, pay attention to how the author creates unease with limited information and to the differences between old-style narrative and modern suspense writing. Note that the work bears the marks of its time, and its characters and ideas should not be judged simply by contemporary standards.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Casual readers who enjoy old-style suspense and supernatural themes and seek atmosphere
Readers interested in American popular literature from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century
Learners needing short English originals for extensive reading practice
Enthusiasts who want to see how the possession motif was presented in early fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer the finely structured plots and twist designs of modern psychological suspense
Readers not interested in supernatural settings who read only realistic works
Beginners with weak English who need line-by-line annotations

Reading tips

Read first without looking up background, experiencing the author's pacing of suspense, then revisit key passages.
Mark sentences that describe atmosphere and psychology to appreciate old-style suspense technique.
After finishing, compare with contemporary works on similar themes to see how narrative strategies have changed.
For English extensive reading, summarize the plot in one or two sentences after each chapter to check comprehension.

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 book's suspense of the detective kind or the supernatural kind?

Judging from the title and the author's usual thematic bent, the work revolves around the supernatural image of possession, emphasizing atmosphere and psychological tension rather than rigorous logical deduction. Readers should come to it expecting supernatural suspense.

How long is it, and how long does it take to read?

The Project Gutenberg edition is not long and can be completed in one or two readings. The exact page count depends on the ebook's layout; readers can browse the table of contents first to estimate their reading time.

Is the electronic edition free, and on which devices can I read it?

The book is a public-domain ebook published by Project Gutenberg and is provided free of charge. It is usually available for online reading on the web and for download in various ebook formats, readable on computers, phones, or e-readers, as specified on the publication page.

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About the author

Cleveland Moffett Author · American · 1863–1926

Cleveland Moffett (1863–1926) was an American journalist, writer and playwright, born in Boonville, New York, and a graduate of Yale College. He served as a correspondent for the New York Herald in Europe and Asia and later as editor of its Sunday edition; his wide travels provided rich material for his later writing. Moffett is known for the short story "The Mysterious Card" and also wrote works such as Through the Wall, Possessed and Careers of Danger and Daring, which are chiefly adventure and mystery fiction marked by tight plotting and a strong sense of suspense and tension. He also produced imaginative narrative works such as The Conquest of America: A Romance of Disaster and Victory, U.S.A., 1921 A.D. He died in Paris in 1926. Public information is limited, and details of his life and the full range of his work remain to be further verified.