Word: algerism
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...Alger himself made a fortune by the mass production of novels. (Never a shrewd businessman, Alger sold most of his works outright at moderate prices. At the height of his reputation, he had to piece out his literary earnings by tutoring schoolboys in French and Latin. One of his pupils: the future Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo...
...Alger was "the most widely read author of the ages"-according to his only biographer, Herbert R. Mayes (TIME, May 7, 1928). (Not one of Alger's novels ever appeared near the top of any bestseller list...
...Alger was the most prolific writer who ever lived. (He published about 130 books for boys, at least two novels for girls and several books of bad poetry, besides some earlier pamphlets. But most of the books were short, averaging 55,000 words by actual count; his total production was about 7,000,000 words. Frederick Dey, author of most of the "Nick Carter" series, ground out more than 21,000,000 words...
Successful Failure. Although he was a great success by popular standards, the real Alger was a failure by his own, and his father's rules. Horatio Sr., a Unitarian clergyman in Chelsea, Mass., wanted his oldest son to become a great Boston preacher like Dr. William Channing or Edward Everett Hale. He made the boy read Plato and Josephus (in translation) at the age of eight, and taught him Latin at nine. When parishioners called, Father Alger would ask, "What are you going to be, Horatio?" Horatio Jr. would stutter: "I shall be a t-teacher of the ways...
Father Complex. Horatio Alger never even wrote an outline for the novel, although he was still dreaming about it when he died (1899). In fact, Alger never succeeded in freeing himself from his father's domination, never quite grew up. At the age of 50, he still liked to play with blocks. He sometimes disguised himself in a long cape and a tousled wig and went wandering through Manhattan's streets - in search of material, he said. He preferred the company of bootblacks and match boys to that of adults. He liked to beat the big drum...