"It may be that 'Jim' puts things strongly sometimes, but the spirit of truth at least is plain in every chapter of the book. That, in general, it is the real thing is the feeling the reader has after he has finished with 'The Autobiography of a Thief.' It is not a pleasant book; it is anything but a book such as the young person should receive as a birthday gift. It is a book however which the man anxious to keep track of life in this country should read and ponder over."--JOSIAH FLYNT, _in the Bookman_.
"A straightforward narrative which has the tremendous advantage of disclosing more things about the greater life of Chicago--and more which are not generally known to the more sheltered classes--than any book of its size ever written. Those who wish to be written down as loving their fellow-men should read this volume with care. It is a real book, and worth anybody's while."--_The Interior, Chicago._
"Much of the story is set down in this man's own words, and the whole is made vividly interesting and really meaningful by the author's broad understanding and sincerity of purpose."--_Life, New York._
"Mr. Hapgood's portrayal of the American workingman is a 'moving picture' in two senses of this equivocal phrase. It is kinetoscopic, first of all, in its lifelikeness and the convincing reality of the actions it pictures. Then, again, it is emotionally moving; for the character of Anton, the big, honest, alert and energetic Chicago laborer, can hardly fail to arouse in the reader intense admiration, lively sympathy and not a little amusement free from all cynicism and class feeling. In 'The Spirit of Labor' we are brought into living contact with the men and women we meet on the streets, the great American public with whom every business man, every pastor and every politician has daily to reckon. Teamsters, masons, unionists, saloonkeepers, policemen, wash-women, newsboys, walking delegates, waitresses, ward heelers, local bosses, anarchists--the procession seems endless and the medley beyond all hope of disentanglement. But it is real life and no parade of puppets."--_New York Tribune._
"We cannot doubt, however, that Anton is a true type and represents a large portion of the men of this land with whom workers and students in social matters must meet. The book deals intimately with the questions arising between labor and capital, and is especially interesting in its analysis of the Chicago spirit as it relates to these matters."--_The Christian Advocate, New York._