The Boyhood of Living Authors (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1887. Excerpt: ... CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. "One of the best things in the world is to be a boy. It requires no experience, though it needs some practice to be a good one. The disadvantage of the position is that it does not last long enough; it is soon over. Just as soon as you get used to being a boy, you have to be something else, with a good deal more work to do, and not half so much fun." This is said by Charles Dudley Warner, in a delightful little volume called " Being a Boy," the copy of which that lies before me, borrowed from the public library, bears on its titlepage the pencilled comments of two previous readers, in schoolboy hand: "Putty gud book," " Rawther Sawcastick." It is a " putty gud book," and it is " rawther sawcastick; " it leaves nothing unsaid that is worth knowing about the life of a boy on a New-England farm, and it is as natural and as shyly humorous as Aldrich's history of Tom Bailey at Rivermouth. No doubt those who have read it, or who may read it in the future, will be glad to know that it is in a measure autobiographical; that in writing it, Mr. Warner sat for his own portrait, and painted what he saw in the looking-glass. He was born on Sept. 12, 1827, in Plainfield, Mass., a hilly town in the western part of the State, where his father had a farm of about six hundred acres, with large flocks of sheep and herds of cattle; and his boyhood was like that of the typical farmer's boy who appears in his book, though in his case the labor and the trials were sweetened by a love of Nature, which gathered something more than physical enjoyment from his surroundings. The summer soon passed away, and the winters seemed to be never-ending on that lofty plateau. The snows drifted high above the fences, and sleighs could go anywhere over the fields. The wi...