5 h 52 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 52 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout 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
Readers who enjoy warm small-town comedy, eccentric neighbors, river steamboats and a bighearted underdog will love this book. It rewards anyone who likes humor with tenderness in it.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Grand plans hide a tender heart
- Pretending begins inside the family
- His sister brings out his courage
- A dreamer finds a practical partner
- Love gives hope uncertain ground
- Success cannot settle every claim
- Love is measured by possible loss
- Quiet actions reveal the man
Who’s who
- D. Webster OppA small, boastful dreamer who starts a newspaper and chases fortune, while quietly caring for his sister.
- KippyMr. Opp's gentle sister, who has a child's mind, loves dolls, fears a presence called It, and clings to her brother.
- Guinevere GustyA pretty, dreamy girl home from seminary who longs for books and music and bends to her mother's will.
- Mrs. GustyGuinevere's forceful, sharp-tongued mother, who runs everyone around her and wants her daughter safely married.
- Willard HintonA bitter young secretary and would-be author whose eyesight is failing and who has lost his purpose.
- Nick FennyThe thin, tireless young printer who does the real work of the paper and loves the news.
- Jimmy FallowsThe round, teasing hotel keeper and undertaker who passes information along Main Street and jokes about everything.
- Aunt TishThe old servant of the Opp house, scarred by an old fight, who cares for Kippy and fears ghosts.
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Mr. Opp
by Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice · 1909
A pompous small-town dreamer in a checked suit starts a newspaper while his gentle sister waits at home.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“The only insignificant thing about Mr. Opp was Mr. Opp himself.”
In short
What happens to a man who lives mostly in his imagination when real life asks something of him? In Mr. Opp, a small man in a loud checked suit steps onto a waiting launch, carrying shoe samples and a head full of oil wells and business plans.
Mr. Opp at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 20 min2 h 40 min fast, 4 h slow
- Length
- 47,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1909by Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice
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 showy little man comes home to a funeral
Jimmy Fallows waits on a riverbank for a passenger who is hours late. Jimmy runs a boardinghouse called Your Hotel, and he jokes that the man has a talent for missing things.
When D. Webster Opp finally appears, he is about thirty-five. He wears a plaid suit, a huge scarf pin and new tan shoes, all chosen to be noticed. The only small thing about him is himself. He has come for the funeral of Mr. Moore, his stepfather.
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Details
- First published
- 1909
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Rice, Alice Caldwell Hegan. Mr. Opp. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/mr-opp.
Rice, A. C. H. (2026). Mr. Opp. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mr-opp (Original work published 1909)
Rice, Alice Caldwell Hegan. Mr. Opp. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mr-opp.
@book{rice2026mr,
author = {Rice, Alice Caldwell Hegan},
title = {Mr. Opp},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/mr-opp},
note = {First published 1909}
}
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What is Mr. Opp about?
It follows D. Webster Opp, a boastful dreamer in a Kentucky river town who starts a newspaper, chases oil wealth, falls in love, and cares for his childlike sister Kippy. It is a comic and tender small-town story.
Who is Kippy in Mr. Opp?
Kippy is Mr. Opp's half sister. She is a grown woman with a child's mind who plays with dolls and fears a presence she calls It. Her brother protects her, and her welfare shapes his choices.
What is The Opp Eagle?
The Opp Eagle is the weekly newspaper Mr. Opp starts in Cove City. His grand editorials and young Nick Fenny's plain local news fill its pages, and it becomes the town's center of talk.
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.
“The only insignificant thing about Mr. Opp was Mr. Opp himself.”
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