Mr. President

Arr, Stephen, 1921-2012Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 24K words
Chapters: 3

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.Mr. President by Stephen ArrAuthor: Arr, Stephen, 1921-2012,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 6, 2010

Editor's review

This is a public-domain English ebook from Project Gutenberg, written by Stephen Arr (1921–2012) and classified under American and Canadian literature. It is short and serves as a light sample for getting to know mid-twentieth-century English short narrative. As a public-domain ebook, its value lies not in binding or marketing but in being freely available, easy to move between screens, and convenient for language learners doing extensive reading in the original. When reading, do not seek grand plotting; instead, notice the narrative rhythm and the way dialogue is written. If you also learn the background of Project Gutenberg—Michael Hart pioneered ebooks in 1971—you can better appreciate where such texts sit in the history of digital reading. It suits reading straight through in fragmented time, then going back over the details.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners looking for short public-domain English books for extensive reading practice
Readers interested in twentieth-century American literature who want a low-cost sample
Commuters used to reading ebooks on phones or e-readers
Teachers who need public-domain texts as supplementary classroom materials

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting long, complex plots or strong dramatic conflict
Beginners who need a Chinese translation or sentence-by-sentence notes
People with high standards for the typesetting quality of public-domain ebooks

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the whole, then on the second pass look up new words and note sentence patterns.
Read the dialogue passages aloud to feel the rhythm of spoken English.
After finishing, retell the gist in three to five sentences to check your understanding.
If reading on a tablet, enlarge the font and turn on night mode to reduce eye strain.

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 in Chinese or English?

The main text is in English; it is a public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, classified under American and Canadian literature. Chinese readers need some English reading ability or a dictionary tool to assist them.

Why does the introduction mention Michael Hart?

Because the book is distributed by Project Gutenberg, a platform founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and the earliest project to offer free ebooks. That passage in the introduction describes the platform, not the plot of the work itself.

Is it suitable for readers with zero English?

Not very suitable for zero-level readers. The text is an unabridged English original, so at least intermediate reading ability is recommended; alternatively, start with a bilingual simplified edition and then return to the original.

Comments

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About the author

Arr, Stephen, 1921-2012 Author · 1921–2012

Stephen Arr (1921–2012) was a short-story writer active in science fiction magazines in the mid-twentieth century. Public information about his life is limited, and only two of his works are held in the collection: Mr. President and Chain of Command. Judging from these two works and the venues in which his short stories appeared, his writing was aimed mainly at science fiction readers, with short, tightly paced pieces that build plot and conflict within a limited space. His themes often relate to organizational subjects such as power and chains of command, and the titles themselves reveal an interest in political and military structures. He was not a prolific or widely known author, and his output was small; he never entered the mainstream literary spotlight, yet he occupied a place in the science fiction magazine ecosystem of his time, a quiet contributor to the genre fiction of that era. A fuller assessment of his work and literary influence still awaits more complete documentation.