In Round the Block (1864), John Bell Bouton, a newspaper editor who later became a travel writer, stirs together comedy and pathos to explore the schemes and dreams of the average and extraordinary people inhabiting and intermingling on a single New York City block. In the path of the novel's circumambulation lie mystery, romance, and a murder trial, as love-matches and fortunes are made and lost through invention, speculation, and flimflam - plenty of flimflam. This richly-charactered novel, told with Dickensian brio, offers a fascinating slice of life, vivid in detail, of the bustling big-city habits and mores of America shortly before the Civil War. (Introduction by Grant Hurlock)
Chapters
1 Book 1 Chapter 1 The Block 8 min 2 Book 1 Chapter 2 Three Bachelors 22 min 3 Book 1 Chapter 3 Peeps 15 min 4 Book 1 Chapter 4 Quigg 13 min 5 Book 1 Chapter 5 Pleasure as Business 7 min 6 Book 1 Chapter 6 Something Hidden 19 min 7 Book 1 Chapter 7 The Boy Bog 7 min 8 Book 1 Chapter 8 Maltboy\'s Twentieth Affair 18 min 9 Book 1 Chapter 9 Mrs. Slapman at Home 13 min 10 Book 1 Chapter 10 Infirmities of Genius 17 min 11 Book 2 Chapter 1 The Enigma 9 min 12 Book 2 Chapter 2 A Delicate Proposition 10 min 13 Book 2 Chapter 3 An Auxiliary of Modern Civilization 15 min 14 Book 2 Chapter 4 Miss Pillbody 8 min 15 Book 2 Chapter 5 A Friend in Need 11 min 16 Book 2 Chapter 6 Branching Out 14 min 17 Book 2 Chapter 7 The Little Pupil 8 min 18 Book 3 Chapter 1 "One-Two-Three-Four" 13 min 19 Book 3 Chapter 2 The Falling Board 6 min 20 Book 3 Chapter 3 Sneaking Justified 10 min 21 Book 3 Chapter 4 Up in the Air 11 min 22 Book 3 Chapter 5 Tongues of Fire 9 min 23 Book 4 Chapter 1 Myndert Van Quintem and Son 26 min 24 Book 4 Chapter 2 Buying Good Behavior 13 min 25 Book 4 Chapter 3 The Young Monster 14 min 26 Book 4 Chapter 4 Wesley Tiffles 22 min 27 Book 4 Chapter 5 The Panorama of Africa 13 min 28 Book 5 Chapter 1 Stolen - More Than a Purse 15 min 29 Book 5 Chapter 2 Consolations of High Art 26 min 30 Book 5 Chapter 3 Loving Afar Off 10 min 31 Book 5 Chapter 4 Legerdemain 12 min 32 Book 6 Chapter 1 The Unknown Hand 17 min 33 Book 6 Chapter 2 In Vain - In Vain 14 min 34 Book 6 Chapter 3 The Clashing Orbs 10 min 35 Book 6 Chapter 4 A Vision of Horrors 18 min 36 Book 6 Chapter 5 What the Morning Brought 4 min 37 Book 7 Chapter 1 Pea-Shooting as a Science 7 min 38 Book 7 Chapter 2 By Steam 23 min 39 Book 7 Chapter 3 Pigworth, J.P 11 min 40 Book 7 Chapter 4 Stoop 21 min 41 Book 7 Chapter 5 An Audience Analyzed 15 min 42 Book 7 Chapter 6 Humors of the Many-Headed 21 min 43 Book 7 Chapter 7 Scenes Not in the Bills 11 min 44 Book 8 Chapter 1 The Overture 9 min 45 Book 8 Chapter 2 Curtain Up 15 min 46 Book 8 Chapter 3 Act Second 17 min 47 Book 8 Chapter 4 How the Play Ended 7 min 48 Book 9 Chapter 1 Coroner and Jury 13 min 49 Book 9 Chapter 2 Statement of the Prisoner 18 min 50 Book 9 Chapter 3 Justice Goes to Dinner 10 min 51 Book 9 Chapter 4 Light in the Prison 17 min 52 Book 9 Chapter 5 The Sorrow of White Hairs 7 min 53 Book 9 Chapter 6 What Paper, Types, and Ink Can Do 9 min 54 Book 9 Chapter 7 Pet as a Witness 15 min 55 Book 9 Chapter 8 The Beneficence of Fire Bells 9 min 56 Book 9 Chapter 9 An Old Man\'s Offering 19 min 57 Book 10 Chapter 1 A Fisher of Men 10 min 58 Book 10 Chapter 2 Playing with the Line 6 min 59 Book 10 Chapter 3 Pulling In 12 min 60 Book 10 Chapter 4 The First of May 9 min 61 Book 10 Chapter 5 Demolition of Certain Air Castles 16 min 62 Book 10 Chapter 6 Mr. Whedell\'s Creditors in Convention Assembled 14 min 63 Book 10 Chapter 7 Deus ex Machina 12 min 64 Book 11 Chapter 1 The Old House Revisited 14 min 65 Book 11 Chapter 2 A Posthumous Secret 8 min 66 Book 11 Chapter 3 Overtop Finds a Sensible Woman 10 min 67 Book 11 Chapter 4 Innocence on a Slippery Road 9 min 68 Book 11 Chapter 5 Bog\'s Open Seseme 14 min 69 Book 11 Chapter 6 Tracked 12 min 70 Book 11 Chapter 7 Found and Lost 13 min 71 Book 12 Chapter 1 The \"Cosmopolitan Window Fastener\" 12 min 72 Book 12 Chapter 2 Middle-Aged Cupid 10 min 73 Book 12 Chapter 3 Slapman vs. Slapman 11 min 74 Book 12 Chapter 4 How Overman Sealed a Contract in a Way Unknown to Chitty 11 min 75 Book 12 Chapter 5 A Returned Californian 15 min 76 Book 12 Chapter 6 Revelations of a Laugh 14 min 77 Book 13 Chapter 1 A Story of the Past 15 min 78 Book 13 Chapter 2 Possible Love 5 min 79 Book 13 Chapter 3 Uncle and Niece 12 min 80 Book 14 Chapter 1 Owners of the Beautiful 8 min 81 Book 14 Chapter 2 The Last of a Mystery 12 min 82 Book 14 Chapter 3 Love Crowned 35 min 83 Book 14 Chapter 4 Five Years 17 min
