Rex Ellingwood Beach (1877 – 1949) was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. His second novel The Spoilers (1906) was based on a true story of corrupt government officials stealing gold mines from prospectors, which he witnessed while he was prospecting in Nome, Alaska. The Spoilers became one of the best selling novels of 1906. His adventure novels, influenced by Jack London, were immensely popular throughout the early 1900s. Beach was lionized as the "Victor Hugo of the North,".
Disgusted with his spendthrift son, Kirk Anthony's father has Kirk shanghaied and taken to Panama, where he attracts the attention of Mrs. Edith Cortlandt and falls in love with Chiquita, the daughter of a Panamanian general. He is able to get a job and decides to make something of himself when he meets Allen Allan, a Negro soldier of fortune.
Welcome to the Essential Novelists book series, were we present to you the best works of remarkable authors. For this book, the literary critic August Nemo has chosen the two most important and meaningful novels of Rex Beach which are Heart of the Sunset and The Iron Trail. Rex Beach was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. His adventure novels, influenced by Jack London, were immensely popular throughout the early 1900s. Novels selected for this book: Heart of the Sunset; The Iron Trail. This is one of many books in the series Essential Novelists. If you liked this book, look for the other titles in the series, we are sure you will like some of the authors.
‘The Winds of Chance’ by Rex Beach is an adventure novel which tells a fictionalised story of the Gold Rush. Adapted into a silent film of the same name in 1925, the story follows the penniless Pierce Phillips who cannot go seeking gold so instead works packing supplies for the other adventurers. Phillips soon falls in love with Countess Courteau but when he proposes to her he discovers that she already has a husband. Pierce Phillips then joins a travelling show where one member, Laure, falls in love with him. When Phillips pays more attention to Rouletta, a daughter of a gambler, Laure becomes jealous and conspires with Count Courteau, who believes that Phillips is his wife’s lover. Set in Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush, this novel will be enjoyed by fans of ‘Goldrush: A Real Life Alaskan Adventure’, and ‘The Klondike Gold Rush’. Rex Beach, was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. His novels, most of which were adventure novels, were influenced by Jack London – author of ‘White Fang’ – and they were very popular during the early 1900s. His second novel, ‘The Spoilers’ which was based on a true experience he witnessed while in Alaska of corrupt government officials stealing gold mines from prospectors, became one of the best-selling novels of 1906.
‘Rainbow's End’ by Rex Beach is a western, action-adventure novel set to the backdrop of the Spanish-American war that will be enjoyed by fans of ‘Rough Riders’ by Theodore Roosevelt or the film ‘Citizen Kane’. The story tells the tale of a time when young men in the West who were old enough to ride would head to East Texas to join Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, and assist with the invasion of Cuba. They would ride to glory and return as heroes, but there were very few who would return home to their families. Rex Beach, was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. His novels, most of which were adventure novels, were influenced by Jack London – author of ‘White Fang’ – and they were very popular during the early 1900s. His second novel, ‘The Spoilers’ which was based on a true experience he witnessed while in Alaska of corrupt government officials stealing gold mines from prospectors, became one of the best-selling novels of 1906.
Many men were in debt to the trader at Flambeau and many counted him as a friend. The latter never reasoned why, except that he had done them favors and in the North that counts for much. Perhaps they built likewise upon the fact that he was ever the same to all and that his store was open to every man and all received the same measure.
Rex Beach—dubbed the "Victor Hugo" of the North—reached fame and best-seller status with the publication of his novel, The Spoilers. He went on to have a string of successful books, many of which were adapted into movies. This collection assembles some of his best short stories, including "Laughing Bill Hyde.
About the Author Rex Ellingwood Beach (September 1, 1877 - December 7, 1949) was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player.Rex Beach was born in Atwood, Michigan but moved to Tampa, Florida with his family where his father was growing fruit trees. Beach was educated at Rollins College, Florida (1891-6), the Chicago College of Law (1896-7), and Kent College of Law, Chicago (1899-1900).In 1900 he was drawn to Alaska at the time of the Klondike Gold Rush.After five years of unsuccessful prospecting, he turned to writing. -Wikipedia
The Barrier" is a thrilling adventure novel written by Rex Beach that takes readers on a captivating journey to the untamed wilderness of Alaska. Set during the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 19th century, the story follows the lives of Chet Ballantine and his partner Neil Bonner, who venture into the treacherous Yukon Territory in search of fortune and adventure. As Chet and Neil face the harsh realities of the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness, they encounter a myriad of challenges, including dangerous rapids, hostile indigenous tribes, and the brutal forces of nature. The novel delves into themes of survival, perseverance, and the indomitable human spirit. Rex Beach's vivid descriptions transport readers to the rugged landscapes of Alaska, capturing the beauty and brutality of the region. With its gripping narrative, memorable characters, and exploration of the human will to overcome adversity, "The Barrier" stands as a testament to the allure and dangers of the Klondike Gold Rush era.
A fitful breeze played among the mesquite bushes. The naked earth, where it showed between the clumps of grass, was baked plaster hard. It burned like hot slag, and except for a panting lizard here and there, or a dust-gray jack-rabbit, startled from its covert, nothing animate stirred upon its face. High and motionless in the blinding sky a buzzard poised; long-tailed Mexican crows among the thorny branches creaked and whistled, choked and rattled, snored and grunted; a dove mourned inconsolably, and out of the air issued metallic insect cries—the direction whence they came as unascertainable as their source was hidden.Although the sun was half-way down the west, its glare remained untempered, and the tantalizing shade of the sparse mesquite was more of a trial than a comfort to the lone woman who, refusing its deceitful invitation, plodded steadily over the waste. Stop, indeed, she dared not. In spite of her fatigue, regardless of the torture from feet and limbs unused to walking, she must, as she constantly assured herself, keep going until strength failed. So far, fortunately, she had kept her head, and she retained sufficient reason to deny the fanciful apprehensions which clamored for audience. If she once allowed herself to become panicky, she knew, she would fare worse—far worse—and now, if ever, she needed all her faculties. Somewhere to the northward, perhaps a mile, perhaps a league distant, lay the water-hole.
There is but one remedy for your complaint." Doctor Suydam settled deeper into his chair. "Marry the girl.""That is the only piece of your professional advice I ever cared to follow. But how?""Any way you can—use force if necessary—only marry her. Otherwise I predict all sorts of complications for you—melancholia, brain-fag, bankruptcy—"Austin laughed. "Could you write me a prescription?""Oh, she'll have you, Bob. You don't seem to realize that you are a good catch."Austin finished buckling his puttee before rising to his full height.
About the Author Rex Ellingwood Beach (September 1, 1877 - December 7, 1949) was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player.Rex Beach was born in Atwood, Michigan but moved to Tampa, Florida with his family where his father was growing fruit trees. Beach was educated at Rollins College, Florida (1891-6), the Chicago College of Law (1896-7), and Kent College of Law, Chicago (1899-1900).In 1900 he was drawn to Alaska at the time of the Klondike Gold Rush.After five years of unsuccessful prospecting, he turned to writing. -Wikipedia
On his way down-town Phillips stopped at a Subway news-stand and bought all the morning papers. He acknowledged that he was vastly excited. As he turned in at the stage door he thrilled at sight of the big electric sign over the theater, pallid now in the morning sunshine, but symbolizing in frosted letters the thing for which he had toiled and fought, had hoped and despaired these many years. There it hung, a dream come true, and it read, "A Woman's Thrall, By Henry Phillips." The stage-door man greeted him with a toothless smile and handed him a bundle of telegrams, mumbling: "I knew it would go over, Mr. Phillips. The notices are swell, ain't they?
Louis Mitchell knew what the telegram meant, even though it was brief and cryptic. He had been expecting something of the sort ever since the bottom dropped out of the steel business and prices tobogganed forty dollars a ton. Nevertheless, it came as an undeniable shock, for he had hoped the firm would keep him on in spite of hard times. He wondered, as he sadly pocketed the yellow sheet, whether he had in him the makings of a good life-insurance agent, or if he had not better "join out" with a medicine show. This message led him to think his talents must lie along the latter line. Certainly they did not lie in the direction of metal supplies. He had plenty of time to think the situation over, however, for it is a long jump from Butte to Chicago; when he arrived at the latter place he was certain of only one thing, he would not stand a cut in salary. Either Comer & Mathison would have to fire him outright or keep him on at his present wage; he would not compromise as the other salesmen had done and were doing.
This is the tale of a wrong that rankled and a great revenge. It is not a moral story, nor yet, measured by the modern money code, is it what could be called immoral. It is merely a tale of sharp wits which clashed in pursuit of business, therefore let it be considered unmoral, a word with a wholly different commercial significance. Time was when wrongs were righted by mace and battle-ax, amid fanfares and shoutings, but we live in a quieter age, an age of repression, wherein the keenest thrust is not delivered with a yell of triumph nor the oldest score settled to the blare of trumpets. No longer do the men of great muscle lord it over the weak and the puny; as a rule they toil and they lift, doing unpleasant, menial duties for hollow-chested, big-domed men with eye-glasses.
In Rex Beach's ‘The Ne'er-Do-Well’ Kirk Anthony is a rich, playboy who enjoys the lavish lifestyle of expensive dinners, fancy cars, and the New York Night Life, despite his father’s pleas for him to settle down and do some real work. Kirk won’t stop having a good time with his father’s money until one of his drunken friends is persuaded, by a man trying to escape the law, to play a fun ‘trick’ on Kirk. Kirk is kidnapped by his own friends and put on a ship to Panama with no money and the wanted man’s identity. Working to earn his passage home, Kirk is shocked to find that his father is tired of his irresponsible lifestyle and refuses to help him out of this situation. The perfect novel for fans of ‘Windfall’ starring Jason Segal and Jesse Plemons, or ‘All the Money in the World’. Rex Beach, was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player. His novels, most of which were adventure novels, were influenced by Jack London – author of ‘White Fang’ – and they were very popular during the early 1900s. His second novel, ‘The Spoilers’ which was based on a true experience he witnessed while in Alaska of corrupt government officials stealing gold mines from prospectors, became one of the best-selling novels of 1906.
But there seemed little hope of his ever attaining such a purse-proud position, for while he loomed fairly large in the boarding-house atmosphere of Ohio Street—or had so loomed until the advent of the reckless bookkeeper—he was so small a part of the office force of Comer & Mathison, jobbers of railway supplies, as to resemble nothing multiplied by itself. He received twelve dollars a week, to be sure, for making telephone quotations and extending invoices between times; but when, as the evening shadows of pay-day descended and he drew his envelope, the procedure reminded him vaguely of blackmail, for any office-boy who did not stutter could have held his job.
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