Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks

In this classic rags-to-riches tale, discover the exhilarating story of one boy’s metamorphosis from a street urchin in New York City to a handsome, self-respecting gentlemen.
 
Part coming of age tale and part adventure novel, Ragged Dick is the story of a fast-talking, plucky street boy who gambles, smokes, and has no formal education. But Dick is also hardworking, striving not for wealth and status, but for a steady job, a decent place to sleep, and respectability.
 
Set amidst the drama and perils of growing up as an outcast in the gritty underbelly of NYC, this novel illustrates the courage, tenacity, and resilience of one young boy who, in the face of adversity, aims to pull himself up by his bootstraps and persevere.
 
With an Introduction by Michael Meyer
and a New Afterword by Bryan Waterman“[For] thrilling adventures...go for…Horatio Alger’s books.”—Boston HeraldHoratio Alger, Jr. (1832–99), the son of a Unitarian minister, was born in Massachusetts. After studying at Harvard, Alger pursued a career in the ministry before moving to New York City, where he began writing his successful books for boys such as Luck and Pluck, Tattered Tom, Phil the Fiddler, and Struggling Upward. His eighth novel, Ragged Dick, was his first of many bestsellers.
 
Michael Meyer, Ph.D., is a professor of English at the University of Connecticut. Among his books, Several More Lives to Live: Thoreau’s Political Reputation in America was awarded the Ralph Henry Gabriel Prize by the American Studies Association. In addition to The Bedford Introduction to Literature, his edited volumes include Frederick Douglass: The Narrative and Selected Writings.

Bryan Waterman is Associate Professor of English and American Literature at New York University and co-editor, with Cyrus R. K. Patell, of The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of New York City.