An American Idyll

Parker, Cornelia Stratton, 1885-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 287K words
Chapters: 29

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.An American Idyll by Cornelia Stratton ParkerAuthor: Parker, Cornelia Stratton, 1885-,Language: English, Class: HB: Social sciences: Economic theory, Demography, Release Date: Feb 7, 2005

Editor's review

This work is Cornelia Stratton Parker's record of American social and economic life in the early twentieth century, classified under social science economic theory and demography. Writing from firsthand experience, the author presents ordinary families' incomes and expenditures, life choices, and shifting attitudes against a particular historical backdrop; the prose bears the marks of its era yet is never dull. Its value lies in offering today's readers a window into the everyday economic logic of America's formative consumer society, and it can be read alongside works of economic and social history. The writing leans toward narrative and observation, making it suitable as supplementary material for understanding the texture of middle-class American life at the time rather than as a systematic theoretical treatise. Readers are advised to read with a sense of historical comparison, noting how the author's views on prices, housing, education, and savings differ from those of today. The electronic edition, released by Project Gutenberg, is easy to search and excerpt, suiting research-oriented reading and thematic browsing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in American social and economic history who want to understand early twentieth-century daily life
Sociology or history students who need firsthand period observations as supplementary reading
Readers who enjoy nonfiction narrative and have a taste for details of daily life and household budgets
Readers with reasonable English proficiency willing to engage with early American social documents in the original

Not a good fit for

Academic researchers expecting a systematic economic theory framework and data analysis
Casual readers who prefer plot-driven novels or fast-paced narrative
Beginners with weak English reading skills who need a Chinese translation for support

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and chapter subheadings, then closely read the chapters related to household income and expenditure and consumer attitudes.
Keep a notebook to record prices, wages, and other data from the book, cross-checking them against economic history sources from the same period.
Read the book as a slice of its era, writing two or three sentences after each chapter comparing it with life today.
Use the e-book's search function to look up keywords and browse thematically around housing, education, and savings.

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 a novel or a work of social science?

It is a social record based on the author's firsthand observations. Project Gutenberg classifies it under social science, economic theory, and demography rather than fiction. The book focuses on the economic lives and attitudes of ordinary families; it is narrative in style but essentially a work of nonfiction.

How difficult is the English original, and is it suitable for non-native readers?

Written in the early twentieth century, it has long sentences but not overly difficult vocabulary; readers with college-level English can finish it with a dictionary. Some period expressions and place names may be unfamiliar, so a annotated edition or reading the introduction first for background is recommended.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

A basic understanding of early twentieth-century American industrialization, urbanization, and the rise of consumerism will help greatly. If you lack a sense of the price levels, family structure, and gender division of labor of the time, you may first skim one or two surveys of related economic history before starting the main text.

What kind of reading approach suits the electronic edition?

The Project Gutenberg e-edition is convenient for full-text searching and excerpting, making it suitable for topic-based skimming and note-taking. It is best to start with chapters of interest rather than reading linearly from beginning to end; you can also print key chapters for handwritten annotation.

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About the author

Parker, Cornelia Stratton, 1885- Author · American · 1885

Cornelia Stratton Parker (1885– ) was an American writer and social observer. Public information about her life is limited: it is currently confirmed that she was born in 1885, and two of her works are held in this collection. Her writing focuses on social documentary and observations of everyday life. Her representative work, Working With the Working Woman, turns its attention to women laborers, recording their working conditions and daily circumstances and showing concern for the lives of ordinary workers; her other work, An American Idyll, offers a personal and period-flavored account of life and its times. Parker's prose is plain and approachable, emphasizing firsthand experience and observation and approaching social issues through concrete scenes. Her work preserves a valuable perspective on the lives of women workers in early industrial society and remains of historical and reading value today.