Many of the common beliefs about Alger and his books are misconceptions. During his lifetime, his books were neither as popular nor as influential as is commonly supposed. Some writers have estimated that more than one hundred million Alger books were sold, but this is patently ridiculous. He is credited with only one best-seller, and during his own lifetime only about 800,000 of his books were sold. Alger's greatest popularity came after his death. His sales reached their zenith during the first two decades of the twentieth century, when his books were published in cheap editions and when the temper of the country favored their message. Around sixteen or seventeen million books were probably sold altogether, according to Frank Luther Mott's estimate in
Golden Multitudes (1947).
Studies of Alger are complicated by two formidable problems encountered in any evaluation of his life and work. The first problem is the enormous amount of misinformation which has been published about Alger's life. Many of the wellknown "facts" about Alger's life are either unsubstantiated or are outright fabrications. Herbert R. Mayes, author of the first biography (1928), wrote of a repressed boy tyrannized by a puritanical, demanding father who wanted his son to follow in his ministerial footsteps; the boy grew into a pathetic, neurotic man who never fulfilled his desire to write a great novel.
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