5 h 14 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens to your place in society when the fortune that supports it begins to turn?
In On the Stairs, Henry Blake Fuller explores an American world where money, rank and ambition shape choices. New fortunes press against older ideas of class. Manners matter: what people say, whom they visit and how they behave in company can reveal what they hope to gain.
The desire to rise meets the uncertainty of keeping one's place. Fuller treats ambition with sympathy as well as doubt, watching a society where fortune can reverse and standing is never entirely secure. His controlled, observant narrator brings dry irony to the pressure of getting ahead—and the fear of slipping back.
What you’ll discover
- The pressure to rise Explore ambition as both an understandable wish and a desire worth questioning.
- Manners with something at stake Look closely at social behavior that reveals hopes of money, rank and acceptance.
- Fortune without firm footing Consider how changing circumstances test the security that wealth and position seem to promise.
- An eye for irony Meet a narrator whose cool, amused observations sharpen the picture of American society.
- New money, older ranks Enter a social world where growing fortunes push against established ideas of status.
Who will love it
Readers who like a witty narrator, a close study of two opposite temperaments, and a portrait of American city life as money, manners and marriage shift the ground under a family.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two boys meet on a school stair
- A dreamer and a getter as boys
- Young men take different roads
- Europe for one, the city for the other
- A marriage that cannot hold
- What the staircase means and how it is told
Who’s who
- Raymond PrinceHeir of a once rich family, a bookish dreamer who loves Europe and art, hates business, and cannot bear to compete or give way.
- Johnny McComasA stable keeper's son who climbs by energy and hunger for results, from real estate to bank president, and enjoys every step.
- George WaiteThe lawyer who tells the story, friend to both men, witty and modest, who admits what he does not know.
- GertrudeRaymond's young wife, raised in Paris, who wants social brightness and admires the vigor of Johnny McComas.
- AlbertRaymond and Gertrude's son, passed between parents, who grows into a man with ambitions of his own.
- Adele McComasJohnny's first wife, lively and eager to get ahead, who becomes a friend to Gertrude.
- AltheaJohnny's daughter, a bright and pretty horsewoman whose notice Albert hopes to earn.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
On the Stairs in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
On the Stairs
by Henry Blake Fuller · 1918
A stable keeper's son climbs the stairs of success while a rich man's son goes down, and a friend watches both.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
On the Stairs is a short novel by Henry Blake Fuller about two men whose lives repeatedly cross on staircases. In 1873 a rich boy named Raymond Prince sweeps down the steps of a boys' academy while a newcomer named Johnny McComas stands aside.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two boys meet on a school stair
The book opens with a trick. The narrator gives you two scenes at once. In 1873 Johnny McComas, new at Grant's Private Academy, steps aside on the stairway so that Raymond Prince can pass. In 1916 the same words are spoken at a marble staircase in the Mid-Continent National Bank, but now Johnny is the great man and Raymond is the one who waits.
The narrator promises that most of his story lies between these two dates. He says Johnny will climb the stairs of life from bottom to top, at least in the opinion of the town, while Raymond goes down from top to bottom, or so his critics see it. They will pass each other near the middle of the book.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about On the Stairs
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is On the Stairs about?
It follows Raymond Prince, heir of a once rich family, and Johnny McComas, a stable keeper's son, from boyhood in 1873 to middle age. As Johnny rises in business, Raymond slowly loses ground, and a marriage binds their fortunes together.
Who tells the story of On the Stairs?
A lawyer named George Waite, who went to school with both men and stays a friend of each. He speaks to the reader directly, jokes about novel conventions, and often admits that he does not know what really happened.
What does the title On the Stairs mean?
Stairs stand for social rank and the ups and downs of fortune. Raymond and Johnny meet on the steps of a school, a festival hall, a great house and a bank, and each meeting shows who is rising and who is falling.
The author
Henry Blake Fuller
1857–1929 · American novelist
Henry Blake Fuller was an American novelist and short story writer. He was born in Chicago in 1857 and died there in 1929. His novels include The Cliff-Dwellers, published in 1893, and Bertram Cope’s Year, published in 1919. He lived in Chicago and also traveled in Europe.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
