- Appleton, Victor.
Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle.
Bedford, MA: Applewood Books, [1910] 1992. ISBN 1-55709-175-7.
-
Here's where it all began—the first episode of the original Tom Swift
saga. Here we encounter Tom, his father Barton Swift, Mrs. Baggert,
Ned Newton, Eradicate Sampson and his mule Boomerang, Wakefield “bless my
hatband” Damon, Happy Harry, and the rest of the regulars for the first
time. In this first outing, Appleton is still finding his voice: a
good deal of the narration occurs as Tom's thinking or talking out
loud, and there are way too many references to Tom as “our hero” for
the cynical modern reader. But it's a rip-snorting, thoroughly enjoyable
yarn, and the best point of departure to explore the world of Tom
Swift and American boyhood in the golden years before the tragically
misnamed Great War.
I read the electronic edition of this novel published
in the
Tom Swift and His Pocket
Library
collection at this site on my PalmOS PDA. I've posted an updated
electronic edition which corrects a few typographical and formatting
errors I noted whilst reading the novel.
January 2005 