The Mucker [Hardcover]

Edgar Rice Burroughs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

Billy Byrne was a mucker, "... ready to insult the first woman who passed, or pick a quarrel with any stranger ...", a product of the streets of Chicago. In San Francisco, hiding from the law, he is shanghaied. In his adventures, Billy finds a nobility of character that marks Burroughs' heros.

"The Mucker" as published in hardback (Chicago; A.C. McClurg & Co., October 31, 1921) is a combination of two stories: "The Mucker"; All-Story Cavalier Weekly; October 24, 31, November 7, 14, 21, 1914 and "The Return of the Mucker"; All-Story Weekly; June 17, 24, July 1, 8, 15, 1916.

The original edition is identified by the A.C. McClurg name on the spine and title page. It was bound in a pale green cloth with red lettering on the spine and front. The dust jacket (in color), a frontpiece, and four illustrations were done by J. Allen St. John.

The text of this edition is from the 1921 A.C. McClurg edition. The front cover picture of this edition is a restored copy of the front of the original dust jacket. All the original interior illustrations are reproduced in this edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This book is in Electronic Paperback Format. If you view this book on any of the computer systems below, it will look like a book. Simple to run, no program to install. Just put the CD in your CDROM drive and start reading. The simple easy to use interface is child tested at pre-school levels.

Windows 3.11, Windows/95, Windows/98, OS/2 and MacIntosh and Linux with Windows Emulation.

Includes Quiet Vision's Dynamic Index. the abilty to build a index for any set of characters or words. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Quiet Vision Pub (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576464989
• ISBN-13: 978-1576464984
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,950,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Burroughs' Anti-Hero, July 4, 2000

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Mucker (CD-ROM)

Most of Edgar Rice Burroughs' heroes are highborn, chivalrous, and heroic. The Mucker is none of these things. He is a gangster, a hoodlum, a boxer, and a hobo. He is also one tough cookie. Of course, he cannot remain a thug. Over the course of the book he becomes noble, chivalrous, and heroic. One of Burroughs' best non-Tarzan books.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mucker doesn't muck around, May 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mucker (Paperback)

The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burrroughs is a wonderful epic adventure that doesn't leave you wanting. Beautiful descriptions sumptuous writing, this is a novel that you can truly set your teeth in. You'll cheer for Edgar's anti-heroe as he travels through 1920's seedy Chicago, to the decks of sailing vessels, to unusual distant lands. The characters are so well fleshed out, that you truly understand the psychology of the protagonist and you know why he behaves the way he does. In his world he has no other choice for he is the mucker. This is a far cry from Tarzan, this character is real and raw, and in some ways more primitive than Tarzan of the apes. It was a joy to read and is a joy to reread. Anyone who likes high adventure cannot help but love this book. It is almost a genre unto itself. Why this book has not been converted into a movie is unimaginable to me.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rollicking Fun, September 4, 2003

By 

David Stapleton (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mucker (Paperback)

After reading five ERB books prior to this one, I was starting to think I might be a little burnt out on him for a while, but this book pulled me in with hardly a hesitation. The story is standard Burroughs, sticking pretty well to his formula - man falls in love with girl, rescues girl, loses girl, rescues girl, loses girl, ..., man and girl live happily ever after.

ERB's heroes are seldom less than perfect and when they are (as in this book) they usually rise above it through the love of a good woman, this story remains true to that form. It looks to have been serialized, as many of his stories were, with many a shift of location. The reader is taken from Chicago to Hawaii to a Pacific Island to New York to Mexico with the all of the accompanying naivete of the times. Whether he is battling pirates, head hunting samurai, evil hoboes, Mexican bandits or his own personal demons you can't help but enjoy the raw power of the main character.

For all of it's simple story and predictable events, this remains a fun book to read, excellent for pre and early teens and those of us that just want a little old fashioned escapism.

For further adventures of Bridge see the Oakdale Affair. P-)