8 h 23 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 23 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if your fitness trainer spots your vanity faster than your weak muscles?
Shorty McCabe leaves the prize ring behind and runs a physical culture studio in New York. His wealthy, restless clients come for health, but their troubles reach beyond exercise. Tempers flare, appearances matter too much, and idle young men need a purpose. Shorty meets their muddles with blunt advice and a good heart.
In Sewell Ford's comic stories, Shorty tells each episode himself, using quick slang and short, rhythmic sentences. His voice carries you from the street to the drawing room, through a growing city marked by sharp differences in wealth. The laughs come with sharp observation: money can buy comfort, but it does not settle every difficulty.
What you’ll discover
- A fighter with heart Meet a retired boxer whose firm, friendly manner leaves little room for flattery.
- More than muscle Watch a trainer tackle tempers, vanity, and confusion as readily as physical weakness.
- New York across classes Follow Shorty between city streets and drawing rooms, where wealth shapes everyday encounters.
- Street talk with rhythm Enjoy a narrator who speaks as though you stand just across the counter.
- Brisk stories, warm laughter Find quick comic episodes that pair a boxer's bluntness with a generous heart.
Who will love it
For readers who enjoy humor in dialect, the city life of early New York, and stories told by a talker with a good heart.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A fighter who now trains the idle rich
- Straight talk can mend more than muscles
- Money, class and the city's many faces
- A voice you hear before you see
Who’s who
- Shorty McCabeA retired prizefighter who runs a physical culture studio in New York and tells the stories in his own plain, funny voice.
- The wealthy clientsRich, restless men and women who come to the studio for health and leave with advice about much more.
- The idle young menSons of comfort who lack purpose and need a firm, friendly push from a trainer who does not flatter them.
- The city of New YorkThe busy, mixed setting that shapes every episode, from the street to the drawing room.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 8 h 23 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 4 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Shorty McCabe
by Sewell Ford · 1906
A retired boxer in New York trains wealthy clients and uses blunt humor to untangle their personal troubles.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Shorty McCabe is a comic book by the American writer Sewell Ford, written in the early years of the twentieth century. Its hero is a retired prizefighter who now runs a physical culture studio in New York.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A fighter who now trains the idle rich
The book starts with its central figure. Shorty McCabe is a former prizefighter who has left the ring and set up a studio in New York. There he teaches exercise, boxing and sensible habits to clients who can pay for it. His own past in the ring gives him a plain view of life, because a man who has been hit hard does not fool himself easily.
His clients are often wealthy, soft or worn out by too much comfort. Some are young men with money and no purpose. Others are older and anxious about their health or their standing. Each arrives with a trouble that exercise alone cannot cure.
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What is Shorty McCabe about?
It follows a retired prizefighter who runs a physical culture studio in New York. He trains wealthy clients and ends up helping with their personal troubles, telling the stories in his own slangy voice.
Who is Shorty McCabe?
He is the hero and storyteller of the book, a former boxer turned trainer. He is blunt, funny and kind, and he uses lessons from the ring to guide people in everyday life.
Who wrote Shorty McCabe and when?
Sewell Ford wrote it, in the early years of the twentieth century. He was an American author known for humorous stories told in city slang, and he died in 1946.
The author
Sewell Ford
1868–1946 · American humorist
Sewell Ford was an American writer who lived in the United States from 1868 to 1946. He wrote fiction in the early twentieth century. His books included Shorty McCabe, Shorty McCabe on the Job, Odd Numbers: Being Further Chronicles of Shorty McCabe, and Torchy and Vee.
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