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Mr. Opp, paperbackPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soon
Mr. Opp, hardcoverHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soon
About this book

What happens when a man's grand ambitions belong to a town where no one can keep a dream private?

Mr. Opp wants to make something worthwhile of his local newspaper. His hopes and daily work are tied to it, but he lives in a small American town where everyone knows everyone else. In Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice's novel, a struggling paper becomes the center of a dream that neighbors cannot help watching.

Rice tells his story with lively talk, comic touches, and affection for ordinary people. Trouble has a place here, but so does plain kindness. Beneath Mr. Opp's big plans lies a quieter question: what makes an ambition worth pursuing? The story looks beyond success and money to the heart of a man who wants to build something.

What you’ll discover

  • A dream worth watching Meet Mr. Opp, whose hopes for his newspaper give everyday work a larger purpose.
  • Neighbors who notice everything Enter a close-knit town where private hopes soon become part of the common conversation.
  • Humor with a kind heart Enjoy comic touches and lively talk that keep the mood bright when trouble arrives.
  • More than worldly success Look beneath grand plans to the plain kindness that gives ambition its human weight.
  • Ordinary lives, warmly seen Spend time with humble people whose daily concerns receive both laughter and tender attention.

Who will love it

For readers who love gentle, humorous American fiction, small-town portraits, and stories about decent people, ordinary ambition, and the kindness of neighbors.

What’s inside

The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary

  1. A small town shapes its people
  2. A dreamer and his newspaper
  3. Warm humor carries the telling
  4. The heart behind every ambition

Who’s who

  • Mr. OppA small-town dreamer whose hopes and daily work are bound up with a local newspaper, and who wants to make something worthwhile of it.

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Formats and delivery
eBook
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Large-print eBook
The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
Audiobook
5 h 52 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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Classic & Literary

Mr. Opp

by Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice · 1909

A small-town dreamer stakes his hopes on a struggling newspaper as his neighbors tease, help and watch.

Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages

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In short

Mr. Opp is a novel by Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice, published in 1909.

Mr. Opp by Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice, the cover

From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1

A small town shapes its people

Rice sets her story in the kind of small American town where everyone knows everyone else. In such a place, a man cannot keep his hopes private for long. Neighbors comment, advise and gossip, and each person's plans become a shared topic. This is the world that surrounds Mr. Opp.

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What is Mr. Opp about?

It is a humorous, kindly novel about a small-town man with big hopes and a local newspaper. It shows his neighbors, his struggles and the warmth that sits beneath ordinary ambition.

Who wrote Mr. Opp and when?

Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice wrote it, and it appeared in 1909. She was an American novelist from Louisville, Kentucky, who also wrote Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.

Is Mr. Opp a true story?

No, it is a work of fiction. Rice drew on the feel of real American small towns and their people, but the characters and events are her own creation.

The author

Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice

1870–1942 · American novelist

Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice was an American novelist born in Shelbyville, Kentucky, in 1870. She lived in Louisville, Kentucky, and died there in 1942. She wrote Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, published in 1901, Mr. Opp, published in 1909, and A Romance of Billy-Goat Hill, published in 1912.

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