Nothing to Do / Horatio Alger, Jr.

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"Nothing to Do: A Tilt at Our Best Society" is a poem of three hundred lines written in the epic style by Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899). It was published unsigned on July 30, 1857 by James French & Co. of Boston. The poem satirizes the leisure class through Augustus Fitz-Herbert, a foppish youth who presages the snobs of Alger’s later boys' books. It was inspired by William Allen Butler's Nothing to Wear, a poke at Fifth Avenue society that had a huge response from readers in an economically troubled time. Publishers wanted to cash-in on the poem's popularity and began looking about for writers who could imitate the work; Alger was chosen for the task after an interview with an editor at James French & Co. Reviews of Nothing to Do were favorable. Alger donated a copy to the Harvard Library on September 15 after entering the Cambridge Theological School.