Nothing to Do: A Tilt at Our Best Society

Nothing to Do is a long satirical poem on America's leisure class. It is a poem of 300 lines written in the epic style by the American poet. He takes a dig at the said society through Augustus Fitz-Herbert, a young man who foretells the stories of Alger's later rag-to-riches works. As a result of Alger's remarkable skill, Nothing to Do got critical recognition. It was inspired by William Allen Butler's Nothing to Wear, a dig at Fifth Avenue society that had a massive response from readers in an economically challenging time.