The Amateurs

Alan CoganProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 18K words
Chapters: 2

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.The Amateurs by Alan CoganAuthor: Cogan, Alan,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 30, 2016

Editor's review

"The Amateurs" is an English-language literary work by Alan Cogan, included in Project Gutenberg under the category of American and Canadian literature. Project Gutenberg, the earliest provider of free electronic books, was founded by Michael Hart in 1971 with the aim of letting eBooks circulate freely, and this book is a product of that very idea. For readers who want to use public-domain eBooks to explore the diverse landscape of English literature, this book offers a light entry point: its length and subject make it suitable as supplementary English reading material, and it is easy to pick up and read on an electronic device at any time. When reading, one might treat it as a visit to an earlier period of English narrative writing, focusing on how characters and plot unfold rather than seeking the strong stimulation of a modern bestseller. Because the materials do not provide more detailed plot or review information, readers are advised to try it with an open mind and decide whether to go further based on their own interests.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to encounter English literature through public-domain eBooks
Students who need light English reading material for reading practice
Collectors interested in Project Gutenberg eBooks
People who like fragmented reading on electronic devices

Not a good fit for

Beginners expecting detailed introductions or annotations
Readers who prefer the strong plots of contemporary bestselling novels
People who need a Chinese translation for comparison reading

Reading tips

Read the first few pages first to judge the language difficulty and your interest, then decide whether to read it through.
Prepare an electronic dictionary, mark unfamiliar words first, and look them up together after finishing.
Read a fixed short section each day to maintain continuity in English reading.
After reading, retell the plot in a few sentences to check your 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 this book suitable for English beginners?

The materials do not specify the language difficulty, but as a public-domain English literary work, its vocabulary and sentence patterns may be somewhat old-fashioned. English beginners had best read the opening first to assess the density of unfamiliar words; if the obstacles are great, they can start with graded readers and then come back to challenge this book.

Why is this book from Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg was founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and is the earliest project to provide free eBooks, dedicated to letting public-domain works circulate freely. As an English literary work included in this project, this book is freely available and suitable for readers who want to encounter English literature at low cost.

Do I need to know the author's background before reading?

The materials provide only the author's name and the work's category, with no detailed biography. Readers can first read the main text directly without relying on background knowledge; if interested after reading, they can then look up information about the author and the work themselves, so as to avoid preconceptions.

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About the author

Alan Cogan Author

Alan Cogan was a science fiction short-story writer active in the 1950s. Public information about his life and nationality is limited, so his educational background and the full scope of his work cannot be established with certainty. His confirmed works include "The Amateurs" (1955), "In the Cards" (1956), and "Nothing But the Best" (1956), all published in Galaxy Science Fiction; three of his works are held in this collection. Judging from the titles and the venue, he wrote mainly short science fiction for the popular science fiction magazine readership of the time, often telling light, brisk stories about ordinary people drawn into unusual situations, with the wit and irony typical of 1950s science fiction magazines. Although his output was small and his circulation limited, these stories remain useful reference material for studying the magazine culture of that period.