Believe You Me!

Putnam, Nina Wilcox, 1888-1962Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 319K 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.Believe You Me! by Nina Wilcox PutnamAuthor: Putnam, Nina Wilcox, 1888-1962,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 14, 2010

Editor's review

Believe You Me! is a work by Nina Wilcox Putnam, classified under American and Canadian literature and circulating as a public-domain ebook. Putnam was active in the first half of the twentieth century and often wrote about urban life and women's circumstances in a light, humorous vein; this book continues that colloquial, bantering narrative style. The title itself has a strong conversational feel, suggesting that the narrator will recount a rather dramatic experience in a first-person voice. The pleasure of reading lies not in a complex plot structure but in the liveliness and period flavor of the narrative voice: the everyday details, gender roles, and social rules of early twentieth-century American society emerge naturally through the relaxed telling. It works as a sample of the popular literature of its time and suits short-chapter reading on a commute or before bed. Note that the language and humor bear clear marks of their era, and some expressions may require historical context to understand today. Overall, this is a light but period-flavored read, suited to readers interested in early American popular fiction and women's writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American popular literature
Readers who enjoy light, humorous, colloquial narrative styles
Readers or students studying early women's writing and gender expression
Readers accustomed to English public-domain ebooks looking for light reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer serious literature or long works with complex structures
Those who need a Chinese translation or find English reading difficult
Readers sensitive to humor and expressions marked by their era

Reading tips

Read in short stretches, one or two chapters at a time, staying alert to the narrator's voice and period details.
While reading, note the social scenes and the words and actions of female characters, and compare them with sources on American social history of the time.
Don't stop to look up old-fashioned slang or period references; grasp the overall tone first, then return to them.
Read alongside works by other early twentieth-century American women writers to compare narrative voices.

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

What kind of book is this, and what is it about?

It is a public-domain work classified under American and Canadian literature: a light narrative in the first person by Nina Wilcox Putnam, with humor and everyday observation. The available information provides no detailed plot summary; readers may regard it as a work embodying the style of early twentieth-century American popular literature.

What else did Putnam write, and do I need to know it first?

Putnam was an early twentieth-century American writer known for humorous essays and popular fiction. You need not know her other works before reading this book, but if her style interests you, you can go on to her works from the same period afterward to grasp her consistent narrative tone.

Is the English original difficult to read?

The language is fairly colloquial with a strong conversational feel, making the overall difficulty moderate, though it contains early twentieth-century slang and expressive habits. Readers with ordinary English reading ability can get through it smoothly; when you meet period expressions, understand them from context rather than looking up every word.

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About the author

Putnam, Nina Wilcox, 1888-1962 Author

Nina Wilcox Putnam (1888–1962) was a writer whose biographical record remains limited; only two of her works are currently known, Believe You Me! and It Pays to Smile. Judging from the titles and general character of these two books, her writing tended toward light, humorous popular expression: the titles themselves carry a colloquial tone of reassurance and jest, suggesting an approach aimed at general readers and valued for wit and readability. Because public information is scarce, her nationality, education, detailed life experience and full body of work cannot be reliably confirmed, and any account must center on the surviving works. Though few in number, her writings offer a small sample for observing the light, humorous strand of early twentieth-century English-language popular literature.