Project Gutenberg 2000-08-01 Public domain in the USA. 107 Harte, Bret 1836 1902 Harte, Francis Bret Condensed Novels Handsome is as handsome does -- Lothaw -- Muck-a-muck -- Terence Denville -- Selina Sedilia -- The ninety-nine guardsmen -- The dweller of the threshold -- The haunted man -- Miss Mix -- Guy Heavystone -- Mr. Midshipman Breezy -- John Jenkins -- No title -- Being a novel in the French paragraphic style -- Fantine -- La femme -- Mary Mcgillup. Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. HTML version by Al Haines. "Condensed Novels" by Bret Harte is a collection of parodic tales written during the late 19th century. This unique assortment weaves together humor and sharp social commentary, as it lightly satirizes various narrative styles and tropes prevalent in popular literature of the time. Through its humorous retellings of popular genres and classical stories, the work highlights the absurdities and contradictions within human relationships and society. The opening of "Condensed Novels" introduces readers to a series of brief, engaging narratives, each promising their own blend of wit and mischievous commentary. For instance, the first tale, "Handsome Is as Handsome Does," sets off with an exploration of the Dodd family's legacy and introduces Faraday Little, a clever but plain-looking boy caught in a world that values appearance over intellect. As Little interacts with his guardians and navigates childhood dramas, including a life-saving moment with a young girl, the story unfolds with Harte's signature wit, framing deeper human truths within light-hearted anecdotes. Overall, the beginning sets a playful tone that invites readers into a whimsical yet reflective exploration of the quirks of society and character. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 75.6 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Fiction Parodies PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Humour Category: American Literature 265794 2025-07-01T12:22:38.623900 text/html 243019 2020-12-31T16:42:46 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 91976 2020-12-31T16:42:46 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 165581 2025-07-01T12:22:45.025901 application/epub+zip 168641 2025-07-01T12:22:40.571939 application/epub+zip 168642 2025-07-01T12:22:39.362976 application/epub+zip 333277 2025-07-01T12:22:48.210862 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 309641 2025-07-01T12:22:44.157856 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 283726 2022-09-01T14:19:16.126730 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 220236 2025-07-01T12:22:37.661893 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 220124 2020-12-31T16:42:46 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 88820 2020-12-31T16:42:46 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19119 2025-07-01T12:22:48.337840 application/rdf+xml 13296 2025-07-01T12:22:39.863890 image/jpeg 3352 2025-07-01T12:22:39.609917 image/jpeg 158525 2025-07-01T12:22:38.642910 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia