14 h 3 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 14 h 3 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the hardest fight of your life is becoming someone worth trusting?
Billy Byrne lives by his fists in Chicago’s crowded streets, saloons and gangs. Proud, coarse and quick to fight, he has little in common with Barbara Harding, a young woman from a wealthy family. When their worlds meet, she sees a brute. He faces a harder question: can he become more?
In The Mucker, Edgar Rice Burroughs takes Billy from city alleys to the open sea, where danger tests more than strength. Barbara’s comfortable world stands far from his own, while the dangerous Theriere tests his judgment. Through hardship and the wish to matter to others, Billy must begin to earn the name of hero.
What you’ll discover
- A fighter under pressure Follow Billy as hard circumstances challenge the rough habits that shape his life.
- Two worlds meet Meet Barbara Harding, whose first judgment of Billy must face who he really is.
- Beyond the Chicago streets Travel from crowded alleys to a ship’s deck, with danger far from home.
- Character beyond strength Explore a story where worth comes through choices and hardship, not wealth or manners.
- Adventure with a heart Find fast action and romance alongside the slower struggle to become a better man.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love fast adventure, bold escapes and sea voyages, or if rough heroes who learn decency win your heart.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A robber loses his own freedom
- Honest work begins to change Billy
- Billy serves men with polished manners
- Danger reveals courage beneath the brute
- Love makes respect matter to Billy
- Billy believes he does not belong
- Decency survives an unjust conviction
- Loyalty survives confusion in Mexico
- Change must be proved through actions
Who’s who
- Billy ByrneA huge, hard-fisted Chicago gangster who learns decency from a woman he first hates, and who wants her respect more than anything.
- Barbara HardingA rich, brave New York girl taken by pirates, who stands up to the brute who threatens her and teaches him better ways.
- Henri TheriereThe Halfmoon's second officer, a French count by birth and a schemer by trade, who wants Barbara's fortune and finds something better.
- BridgeA well-read tramp who loves poetry, hates asking for handouts, and becomes Billy's closest friend on the road.
- Anthony HardingBarbara's wealthy father, owner of the yacht Lotus, who wants to protect his daughter and judges men by their manners.
- Billy MalloryA young, well-bred college athlete who loves Barbara, fights fair, and will do anything to save her.
- PesitaA vain Mexican bandit chief who claims to liberate his country while he robs it, and who hates every American.
- Detective Sergeant FlannaganA dogged Chicago policeman who chases Billy across the country for the reward on his head.
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- Large print hardcover
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The Mucker
by Edgar Rice Burroughs · 1914
A Chicago thug, shanghaied to sea, learns from a captive heiress that he can become a better man.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Remember who I am and what I am”
In short
What happens to a man who has never done an honest day's work when he wakes in a ship's bunk, drugged and far out at sea? Billy Byrne, a hoodlum from Chicago's West Side, sets out to rob a drunken sailor in San Francisco.
The Mucker at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h6 h 20 min fast, 9 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 113,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1914by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Chicago street fighter learns his trade
Billy Byrne grows up in the alleys of Chicago's West Side. At six he carries the beer pail for the older gang behind Kelly's feed store, and that is where his schooling begins.
By ten he steals brass faucets, and by twelve he robs freight cars. His first real fight, over a split of the loot, ends with a brick in his hand and a rival named Sheehan in hospital. At seventeen he learns the craft at Larry Hilmore's boxing gym, but he cannot leave the booze alone, and the holdups go on at night.
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Details
- First published
- 1914
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. The Mucker. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-mucker.
Burroughs, E. R. (2026). The mucker. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-mucker (Original work published 1914)
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. The Mucker. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-mucker.
@book{burroughs2026mucker,
author = {Burroughs, Edgar Rice},
title = {The Mucker},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-mucker},
note = {First published 1914}
}
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What is The Mucker about?
It follows Billy Byrne, a rough Chicago gangster who is shanghaied to sea, shipwrecked on a hidden island, and slowly changed by a captive heiress named Barbara Harding. His adventures later take him to Mexico.
What does mucker mean in the book?
Mucker is a slang word for a coarse, rough person, a bully from the city streets. Barbara uses it on Billy, and the story follows his struggle to become something better.
Who is Bridge in The Mucker?
Bridge is a gentle, educated tramp who loves poetry, especially the verses of Henry Herbert Knibbs, Kipling and Service. He travels with Billy and becomes his closest friend.
The author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
1875–1950 · American adventure novelist
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American writer born in Chicago in 1875. He wrote novels about Tarzan and novels set on Mars. His first Mars story appeared in 1912 and became the book A Princess of Mars in 1917. He later lived in California and died in Encino in 1950.
“Remember who I am and what I am”
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