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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 190 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 190 pagesAbout this book
In a city full of big plans, an ordinary man finds that chance has plans of its own.
Mr. Middleton is an ordinary man caught up in odd events in Chicago, where business, railroads and the lure of fast money fill the streets. In The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton, Wardon Allan Curtis builds a comic tale around chance, schemes and sudden changes of fortune.
Luck and scheming push the story along, while humor keeps gloom at bay. The pleasure lies in watching an ordinary life meet unlikely events against a busy city backdrop. This is period comedy with its own rhythm, drawing its wit from manners, misunderstandings and well-turned phrases rather than slapstick alone.
What you’ll discover
- An unlikely adventurer Follow Mr. Middleton into odd events that pull an ordinary man beyond his familiar world.
- Chicago in motion Enter a lively city of railways, tall new buildings, business and big plans.
- The power of chance Enjoy a plot where luck helps steer events and fortune can change without warning.
- Schemes with comic promise Explore the pull of fortune in a commercial city ripe with subjects for humor.
- Wit at its own pace Settle into period comedy that finds its fun in manners, misunderstandings and turns of phrase.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy tall tales, gentle satire of city life, Arabian Nights flavor with a Midwestern grin, and stories nested inside stories.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A rainstorm opens an unlikely friendship
- Good intentions can invite trouble
- Middleton turns suspicion into a bargain
- Absurd dangers can conceal real rewards
- The tapping turns comedy toward fear
- A borrowed method becomes professional leverage
- Growing wealth does not secure affection
- The telling keeps everyone in costume
- Quick thinking meets a bending conscience
Who’s who
- Edward MiddletonA twenty-three-year-old law clerk from Wisconsin who owns one suit, studies for the bar, and keeps finding profit in the emir's odd gifts.
- Achmed Ben DaoudAn Arab emir who runs a small bazaar on Clark Street and collects adventure stories to free his brother from a tower.
- MesrourThe emir's giant servant, who bows in splendid robes at night and wears checked trousers and a raincoat outside.
- The young lady of EnglewoodA pleasant, proper young woman whom Mr. Middleton hopes to marry when he can afford it, and who is sometimes cross with him.
- Chauncy StackelbergMr. Middleton's cheerful friend, newly married, whose wedding started the whole evening and who later asks him to be his son's godfather.
- Augustus Alfonso BrockelsbyThe senior partner of the law firm where Mr. Middleton works, an important lawyer with a weakness for banquets.
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The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton
by Wardon Allan Curtis · 1903
A young clerk ducks into a dark Chicago shop to escape the rain and meets an Arab emir who hands out strange gifts.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What would you do if a stranger in a dark shop handed you a gift, then told a tale to go with it? Edward Middleton, a law clerk from Wisconsin, ducks out of the rain on a Chicago street and finds an Arab prince smoking a water pipe.
The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h3 h 10 min fast, 4 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 56,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1903by Wardon Allan Curtis
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 rainstorm drives a clerk into the emir's shop
Edward Middleton is twenty-three years old and owns exactly one suit. On a gloomy night he hurries along Clark Street, carrying his own suit and planning to change at the tailor's. When the rain starts, he runs into the first doorway he sees.
A gigantic man in crimson silk and a snowy turban booms out a greeting in Arabic. Mr. Middleton, who knows no Arabic, politely answers that he does not understand German.
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Details
- First published
- 1903
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 190 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 190 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 320 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 320 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Curtis, Wardon Allan. The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-strange-adventures-of-mr-middleton.
Curtis, W. A. (2026). The strange adventures of Mr. Middleton. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-strange-adventures-of-mr-middleton (Original work published 1903)
Curtis, Wardon Allan. The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-strange-adventures-of-mr-middleton.
@book{curtis2026strange,
author = {Curtis, Wardon Allan},
title = {The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-strange-adventures-of-mr-middleton},
note = {First published 1903}
}
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What is The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton about?
A young Chicago law clerk, Edward Middleton, meets an Arab emir who tells him a tale each week and gives him a gift. The gifts lead to comic adventures, small fortunes and trouble with a young lady.
Who is Mesrour in The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton?
Mesrour is the emir's giant servant. In the shop he wears crimson silk and a turban and bows low, but outside he wears checked trousers and a raincoat and uses American slang.
Is The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton a true story?
No. It is a comic invention by Wardon Allan Curtis, set in early twentieth century Chicago, and it playfully imitates the frame of the Arabian Nights with stories inside stories.
The author
Wardon Allan Curtis
1867–1940 · American writer
Wardon Allan Curtis was an American writer, born in 1867 and died in 1940. He wrote The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton, published in 1904. The information supplied does not establish his birthplace or where he lived.
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