Alex the Great

Witwer, H. C. (Harry Charles), 1890-1929Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 264K words
Chapters: 27

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.Alex the Great by H. C. WitwerAuthor: Witwer, H. C. (Harry Charles), 1890-1929,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Aug 22, 2009

Editor's review

Alex the Great is an American popular novel by H. C. Witwer, in the public domain as an e-book. Witwer is known for brisk, colloquial storytelling, and his work often centers on urban life, sports, and entertainment; this book likewise carries a distinct period flavor and a humorous tone. Its value lies in offering readers a window into early twentieth-century American popular fiction and mass taste: the dialogue is lively, the pacing quick, and the book well suited to light reading. As a public-domain text, it is also useful material for studying the spoken English and popular-magazine style of the period. It is not, however, a classic of serious literature; plot and character depth are limited, and it is better treated as leisure reading or as background for literary history. Read it for its language and period context rather than expecting profound themes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Casual readers who enjoy American humor and brisk storytelling
Enthusiasts of early twentieth-century American popular fiction
Readers who want to encounter period spoken English through fiction
People who need short, light reading for fragmented time

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer serious literature and profound themes
Novel readers who expect complex plotting and character development
Readers with no interest at all in the context of early popular literature

Reading tips

Treat it as leisure reading and move through it chapter by chapter without seeking deep interpretation
Note the colloquial and slang expressions in dialogue as language material
Read it against the background of early twentieth-century American popular-magazine culture to appreciate its humor and devices
If interest flags, skim the liveliest dialogue passages rather than forcing yourself to read it all

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 serious literature?

No. It is an American popular novel, chiefly brisk in narration and humorous in tone, with limited plot and character depth. It suits leisure reading or getting a sense of popular fiction of the period, and should not be approached as a classic of serious literature.

What background knowledge is needed to read it?

No specialized background is required to follow it. Familiarity with early twentieth-century American urban life and popular-magazine culture will make its humor and period flavor easier to appreciate. The language is colloquial and offers some reference value for English learners.

How is the e-book edition best read?

It suits fragmented, casual reading and can be picked up freely by chapter. Electronic search makes it easy to revisit dialogue and colloquial expressions. If time is limited, read the dialogue-heavy passages first to get a feel for the style, then decide whether to read it through.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Witwer, H. C. (Harry Charles), 1890-1929 Author · American · 1890–1929

H. C. (Harry Charles) Witwer (1890–1929) was an American writer of popular fiction, mainly active in the magazine publishing world of the 1910s and 1920s, where he produced a large number of magazine stories for a broad readership. His representative works include Alex the Great and Kid Scanlan. His writing often drew on the everyday urban life and sports culture of the United States at the time, with brisk plots and lively language that carry a distinct period flavor. Witwer also co-authored a book with the famous magician Houdini, a cross-disciplinary collaboration that added a special chapter to his career. Because public information is limited, the details of his life and specific experiences are difficult to describe in full, yet he left his mark on American popular literature and magazine fiction, and his works remain a reference for studying the popular reading tastes of that era.