15 h 51 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 when an artist’s search for beauty leads him toward money, a Pacific shipwreck, and hidden secrets?
Loudon Dodd wants to make art, not follow his father into business. From Michigan to the art schools of Paris, he seeks a life shaped by beauty. But family money troubles pull him toward practical choices, and his confident friend Jim Pinkerton brings schemes that are hard to resist.
In The Wrecker, Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne lead you from studios and San Francisco streets toward the Pacific. Pinkerton takes an interest in the wreck of the Flying Scud, whose remains come up for auction. A lost ship becomes the heart of a mystery that tests friendship, greed, and the search for truth.
What you’ll discover
- An artist pulled toward business Follow Loudon as the need for money presses against his wish for a life of beauty.
- A friend full of schemes Meet Jim Pinkerton, whose speeches, confidence, and restless plans bring comic energy to Loudon’s world.
- The Flying Scud mystery Discover how a wreck offered at auction draws these friends toward the secrets of a lost ship.
- Heat and Pacific glare Enter a world of lonely islands, small ships, and mixed crews as the sea adventure unfolds.
- Beauty set against money Explore the uneasy space between Loudon’s love of art and Pinkerton’s appetite for action.
Who will love it
For readers who love Stevenson's sea stories, comic friendship and mysteries, and anyone curious about artists, businessmen and the South Seas.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Michigan boy chooses art over business
- Jim Pinkerton brings loud American energy
- Money problems pull Loudon back into the world
- A wreck is sold and a mystery begins
- The Pacific tests friendship, greed and truth
- What the book says and how it is told
Who’s who
- Loudon DoddA young American from Michigan who prefers art to business, tells the story, and is drawn into schemes he never planned.
- Jim PinkertonA confident San Francisco businessman and Loudon's close friend, full of big plans and boundless energy.
- The Flying ScudA ship lost in the Pacific whose wreck is sold and whose real story holds a mystery.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 15 h 51 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 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.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
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, for the whole household.
- 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
Read and hear The Wrecker in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Wrecker
by Robert Louis Stevenson; Lloyd Osbourne · 1892
Loudon Dodd is drawn from art into business, where a Pacific wreck holds a secret someone wants kept hidden.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
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
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A Michigan boy chooses art over business
Loudon Dodd grows up in Muskegon, Michigan, the son of a man who builds his fortune in business. The family expects the boy to follow his father into that world. Loudon has other tastes. He cares about pictures and sculpture and about the way artists live, and he wants to go where art is taken seriously.
So he sets out for Paris, the city every young art student of his day dreams about. There he joins the crowded life of the studios, the cheap lodgings and the cafes. Money is short, hope is high and talk about art goes on late into the night. Stevenson knew this world from his own youth and from the artists' villages he visited near Paris, and he writes about it with affection and gentle teasing.
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, for the whole household. 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 - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Wrecker
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.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own 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 The Wrecker about?
It follows Loudon Dodd, an American art student, and his energetic friend Jim Pinkerton. Their business ventures lead from Paris and San Francisco to the Pacific, where the purchase of a wrecked ship opens a mystery.
Who wrote The Wrecker?
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote it with his stepson Lloyd Osbourne. It was published in 1892, while Stevenson was living in the Pacific, and it draws on his knowledge of the islands.
What does the title The Wrecker mean?
A wrecker is someone who makes a living from wrecked ships, through salvage or trade in what remains. In the book, Pinkerton and Loudon become wreckers after buying the remains of a ship.
The author
Robert Louis Stevenson
1850–1894 · Scottish novelist and poet
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist and poet, born in Edinburgh in 1850. He wrote Treasure Island (1883), A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885), and Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). He settled in Samoa in 1890 and died there in 1894.
More by Robert Louis Stevenson; Lloyd Osbourne
All 17 books
Free
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
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
Popular in adventure
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
Free
