Summer Reading

I’ve put down the Caesar commentaries for the time being, as I’ve found myself in the middle of too many books and feeling a need to finish some. I recently picked up a book at an antiques shop in Lewes, DE, that I began out of curiosity and it’s interesting enough I want to finish it, It’s

The Ne’er-Do-Well, by Rex Beach
(Author of The Spoiler, The Silver Horde, The Barrier, Going Some, etc.)
Published by A.L. Burt Company, New York, © 1910, 1911

It follows an unfortunate turn of events encountered by a young football coach, 26 year old son of a Railroad magnate in New York. He winds up unexpectedly on a steamer to Panama, about 5 years after the Panama Canal project had been taken over by the United States. There, he finds himself without money or identification and gets into trouble shortly after his arrival. There are slurs and language in the book that are appalling by modern standards, but if one can shake them off, it’s rather an interesting tale with occasional moments of compelling and lyrical imagery.

(The copy I have doesn’t have the photo illustrations as in the Google books copy; rather it has four illustrations by Howard Chandler Christy.)

Additionally, two new books arrived by mail yesterday; Our Burden’s Light, by Patrick Thomas Casey (whom we met in New Orleans), and Picture the Dead, by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown. I also have several books on loan from friends, so lots of reading to do.