Charles Dickens is considered one of the greatest English authors of all time. Dickens often used the pen name Boz. Much of his work first appeared in periodicals and magazines in serialized form. Unlike many writers of his time Dickens wrote the entire novel before serializing it. He made frequent use of the cliffhanger to keep the public interested. Dickens gives his reader the story of a boy from an English workhouse who falls into the hands of rogues who train him to be a pickpocket. His struggle to escape the environment of crime is one of hardship and danger.