The Best Man

MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 175K words
Chapters: 18

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 Best Man by Harold MacGrathAuthor: MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 29, 2014

Editor's review

MacGrath was an early twentieth-century American popular novelist whose works often weave together romance, adventure, and light comedy. The Best Man revolves around a wedding and a choice of the heart, with the clear appeal of popular narrative: distinct relationships, brisk dialogue, and a plot driven by misunderstanding and coincidence, making it a good sample of what American mass readers enjoyed at the time. This public-domain electronic edition is short and accessible, suitable as leisure reading in popular English fiction. A caution: the work carries the narrative formulas and gender attitudes of its era, which today's readers should view with a sense of literary history rather than judge harshly by contemporary standards. For those studying how early twentieth-century American magazine serials were written, the book also offers a concrete, lightweight case.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Casual readers who enjoy popular English romance stories
Readers who want to know early twentieth-century American popular fiction
Readers who have finished an introduction to English reading and want to try a complete work
Enthusiasts studying the narrative formulas of magazine serial fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking profound literary themes and complex structure
Readers sensitive to the gender attitudes of an older era
Readers who want a Chinese translation

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to sort out the relationships, then proceed chapter by chapter.
Note how misunderstanding and coincidence drive the plot, and keep brief notes on structure.
After finishing, compare with popular American novels of the same period to compare narrative formulas.
Skip unfamiliar cultural references at first to keep your reading rhythm.

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 are the main attractions of this book?

They are the brisk dialogue, clear character relationships, and a plot driven by misunderstanding and coincidence. It typically embodies the reading tastes of early twentieth-century American popular fiction and serves as a lightweight sample of the mass literature of the time.

Is the English difficult, and is it suitable for beginners?

The language is generally popular and the sentences are not long, making it suitable for readers who have completed an introduction to English reading and want to try a complete work. There are occasional period expressions and cultural references, but skipping them does not affect understanding of the main story.

Are the ideas in the book outdated?

The work carries the narrative formulas and gender attitudes of the early twentieth century, and some content may seem dated today. It is best viewed with a sense of literary history, focusing on how its popular narrative works rather than judging it harshly by contemporary standards.

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About the author

MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932 Author

Harold MacGrath (1871–1932) was an American novelist known for tightly plotted, adventure-filled popular fiction. His stories often feature princesses, royal courts, and mistaken identities, moving at a brisk pace with strong dramatic and romantic flavor suited to a broad readership. The library holds twenty-two of his works, including The Goose Girl, The Princess Elopes, Arms and the Woman, Hearts and Masks, The Puppet Crown, The Adventures of Kathlyn, The Best Man, and The Drums of Jeopardy; even the titles suggest his taste for exotic settings, suspense, and adventure. Because public information is limited, details of his life cannot be given in depth, but his works were popular with readers in the early twentieth century, and some were adapted into early films, showing his influence in popular storytelling.