author
Horatio Alger Jr.
1832–1899
Best known for lively “rags-to-riches” stories, this hugely popular 19th-century writer helped shape a lasting American myth about hard work, luck, and social mobility. His books about boys rising from poverty made him one of the most widely read authors of his era.
111 Audiobooks
Cast Upon the Breakers
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Struggling Upward, or Luke Larkin's Luck
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Shifting For Himself; or, Gilbert Greyson's Fortunes
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Jack's Ward; Or, The Boy Guardian
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Bound to Rise; Or, Up the Ladder
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Ben Bruce: Scenes in the Life of a Bowery Newsboy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Errand Boy; Or, How Phil Brent Won Success
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Timothy Crump's Ward: A Story of American Life
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Try and Trust; Or, Abner Holden's Bound Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Do and Dare — a Brave Boy's Fight for Fortune
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Five Hundred Dollars; or, Jacob Marlowe's Secret
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Young Explorer; Or, Claiming His Fortune
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Driven from Home; Or, Carl Crawford's Experience
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Joe the Hotel Boy; Or, Winning out by Pluck
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Young Bank Messenger
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Fame and Fortune; or, The Progress of Richard Hunter
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Cash Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Phil, the Fiddler
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Brave and Bold; Or, The Fortunes of Robert Rushton
by Horatio Alger Jr.
From Canal Boy to President; Or, the Boyhood and Manhood of James A. Garfield
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Young Adventurer; or, Tom's Trip Across the Plains
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Young Acrobat of the Great North American Circus
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Bob Burton; or, The Young Ranchman of the Missouri
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Mark the Match Boy; or, Richard Hunter's Ward
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Nelson the Newsboy; Or, Afloat in New York
by Horatio Alger Jr., Edward Stratemeyer
Young Captain Jack; Or, The Son of a Soldier
by Horatio Alger Jr., Edward Stratemeyer
Frank and Fearless; or, The Fortunes of Jasper Kent
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Mark Mason's Victory
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Hector's Inheritance, Or, the Boys of Smith Institute
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Young Outlaw; or, Adrift in the Streets
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Dan, the Newsboy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Sam's Chance, and How He Improved It
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Strive and Succeed; or, The Progress of Walter Conrad
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Ragged Dick, Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Adrift in New York: Tom and Florence Braving the World
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Tom Temple's Career
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Dean Dunham; Or, the Waterford Mystery
by Horatio Alger Jr.
A Cousin's Conspiracy; Or, A Boy's Struggle for an Inheritance
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Herbert Carter's Legacy; Or, the Inventor's Son
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Tattered Tom; or, The Story of a Street Arab
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Young Miner; Or, Tom Nelson in California
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Chester Rand; or, The New Path to Fortune
by Horatio Alger Jr.
From Farm Boy to Senator Being the History of the Boyhood and Manhood of Daniel Webster
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Tin Box, and What it Contained
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Tom Thatcher's Fortune
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Charlie Codman's Cruise: A Story for Boys
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Rufus and Rose; Or, The Fortunes of Rough and Ready
by Horatio Alger Jr.
From Farm to Fortune; or, Nat Nason's Strange Experience
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Paul Prescott's Charge
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Facing the World
by Horatio Alger Jr.
In a new world : or, Among the gold-fields of Australia
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Ben, the Luggage Boy; Or, Among the Wharves
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Luck and Pluck; or, John Oakley's Inheritance
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Frank's Campaign; Or, The Farm and the Camp
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Mark Manning's Mission: The Story of a Shoe Factory Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Ralph Raymond's Heir
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Young Salesman
by Horatio Alger Jr.
A Debt of Honor: The Story of Gerald Lane's Success in the Far West
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Paul the Peddler; Or, The Fortunes of a Young Street Merchant
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Grand'ther Baldwin's Thanksgiving, with Other Ballads and Poems
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Walter Sherwood's Probation
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Robert Coverdale's Struggle
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Tom, The Bootblack; or, The Road to Success
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Only an Irish Boy; Or, Andy Burke's Fortunes
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Life of Edwin Forrest, the American Tragedian. Volume 1 (of 2)
by William Rounseville Alger, Horatio Alger Jr.
Slow and Sure: The Story of Paul Hoffman the Young Street-Merchant
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Grit; or, The Young Boatman of Pine Point
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Julius, the Street Boy; or, Out West
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Rough and Ready; Or, Life Among the New York Newsboys
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Making His Mark
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Helping Himself; Or, Grant Thornton's Ambition
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Mark Mason's Victory: The Trials and Triumphs of a Telegraph Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Digging for Gold: A Story of California
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Andy Gordon; Or, The Fortunes of A Young Janitor
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Adrift in the City; or, Oliver Conrad's Plucky Fight
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Randy of the River; Or, The Adventures of a Young Deckhand
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Helen Ford
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Out for Business; or, Robert Frost's Strange Career
by Horatio Alger Jr., Edward Stratemeyer
Luke Walton
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Frank Hunter's Peril
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Train Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Nothing to Eat
by Horatio Alger Jr., Thomas Chandler Haliburton
Andy Grant's Pluck
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Life of Edwin Forrest, the American Tragedian. Volume 2 (of 2)
by William Rounseville Alger, Horatio Alger Jr.
Bernard Brooks' Adventures: The Experience of a Plucky Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Backwoods Boy; or, The Boyhood and Manhood of Abraham Lincoln
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Tony the Tramp; Or, Right is Might
by Horatio Alger Jr.
A Boy's Fortune; Or, The Strange Adventures of Ben Baker
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Wait and Hope; Or, A Plucky Boy's Luck
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Telegraph Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
In Search of Treasure
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Rupert's Ambition
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Young Book Agent; or, Frank Hardy's Road to Success
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The nugget finders : A tale of the gold fields of Australia
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Store Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
The Erie Train Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Making His Way; Or, Frank Courtney's Struggle Upward
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Strong and Steady; Or, Paddle Your Own Canoe
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Tony, the Hero; Or, A Brave Boy's Adventures with a Tramp
by Horatio Alger Jr.
Jed, the Poorhouse Boy
by Horatio Alger Jr.
About the author
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1832, he studied at Harvard and first worked as a teacher, journalist, and briefly as a Unitarian minister before turning fully to writing. He became famous in the late 1800s for fast-moving novels aimed at young readers, especially stories in which poor boys improve their lives through persistence, honesty, and timely help.
His best-known book is Ragged Dick (1867), and he went on to write well over 100 works. Although his plots were often formulaic, they struck a nerve with readers and became closely tied to the idea of the American Dream.
Today, he is remembered less for literary style than for cultural impact. “Horatio Alger” became shorthand for a rise-from-poverty success story, and his work still offers a vivid window into the hopes, values, and contradictions of 19th-century America.