I read a freebie public domain Horatio Alger on kindle several years ago and was very pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Because of the era in which it was written and the audience for which it was addressed, I assumed that it would be very preachy and likely have some cringeworthy un-PC characters and dialogue, etc. but it was mostly free of that. What it did have was a good story. I started working my way through a collection of Alger's works and, although they are somewhat predictable, they are always a nice diversion. Phil the Fiddler was the latest read from the Alger oeuvre and it was one of the best. Very fast paced, good characters, good story and, of course, it all works out in the end for Fillipo the Italian fiddler who was sold to an evil padrone, brought to America and forced to work 16 hour days on the streets of New York. He was helped along the way by many kind characters, but the best of them was an Irish housewife who wasn't going to put up with any ish from those who were out to hurt Phil. A really good read. ( )