Theodore Dreiser

Based on the real life story of streetcar magnate Charles Yerkes, "The Financier" is an unflinching examination of the corrupted American dream, which relates a story revolving around a fiercely dishonest and motivated businessman, Frank Cowperwood. This protagonist relentlessly maneuvers for wealth without scruples or compassion, first marrying an affluent widow and then embezzling funds. When stock markets crash, his lies are exposed, and he is used as a scapegoat for the corruption of others. Both a betrayer and the betrayed, the brutal reality of his later success after rising and falling into jail is the embodiment of greed in the American success story. Dreiser relates this 1912 tale with a masterful use of naturalism that provides an unapologetic social critique through the character of Frank, an overwhelming and even haunting American businessman. The first volume of his "Trilogy of Desire", this novel was followed by Dreiser's 1914 novel "The Titan" and his final novel "The Stoic" published in 1947. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

An American Tragedy (1925) is a novel by Theodore Dreiser. Written and rewritten over a number of years, An American Tragedy is a weighty epic with a cleareyed vision of the decay at the heart of industrialized society. Based on the murder of Grace Brown in 1906, the novel proved controversial for its depiction of depravity and violence, but has endured as a classic of naturalist fiction and remains a powerful example of social critique nearly a century after its publication. A young Midwesterner bucks against his puritan upbringing, drinking with acquaintances and frequenting prostitutes when he isn’t busy working any number of thankless jobs. As friends and lovers come and go, he fails to find footing in a society fueled by ambition and cunning. Forced to flee Kansas City after a deadly auto accident, Clyde moves to Chicago before settling in Lycurgus, New York, where he meets a young farmgirl named Roberta Allen. When she becomes pregnant, Clyde begins to feel his dreams of freedom fade, and longs for a way out of marriage. Desperate and confused, he turns to a beautiful socialite named Sondra Finchley, the daughter of a local factory owner. Clyde knows what he should do—marry Roberta, settle down, raise a family—but his reckless ways refuse to remain in the past. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

The author based the book on a notorious criminal case. On July 11, 1906, resort owners found an overturned boat and the body of Grace Brown at Big Moose Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. Chester Gillette was put on trial, and convicted of killing Brown, though he claimed that her death was a suicide. Gillette was executed by the electric chair on March 30, 1908. The murder trial drew international attention when Brown's love letters to Gillette were read in court. Dreiser saved newspaper clippings about the case for several years before writing his novel, during which he studied the case closely. He based Clyde Griffiths on Chester Gillette, deliberately giving him the same initials. This novel is full of symbolism, ranging from Clyde's grotesque description of the high gloomy walls of the factory as an opportunity for success, symbolizing how it is all a mirage, to the description of girls as "electrifying" to foreshadow Clyde's destination to the electric chair; Dreiser transforms everyday mundane objects to symbols. Dreiser sustains readers' interest in the lengthy novel (over 700 pages) by the accumulation of detail, and by continually varying the "emotional distance" of his writing from Clyde and other characters, from detailed examination of their thoughts and motivations to dispassionate reportage.

Clyde Griffiths is raised by poor and devoutly religious parents to help in their street missionary work. As a young adult, Clyde must take menial jobs as a soda jerk, then as a bellhop to support his family. At the hotel, he is introduced to bouts of social drinking and sex with prostitutes where he falls in love and quickly becomes jealous. Further irresponsible choices, lead to Clyde's ultimate trouble with the law. An American Tragedy was based on the notorious murder of Grace Brown in 1906 and the trial of her lover. Chester Gillette was put on trial for killing Brown, though he claimed that her death was a suicide. The murder trial drew international attention when Brown's love letters to Gillette were read in court. Dreiser saved newspaper clippings about the case for several years before writing his novel. He based Clyde Griffiths on Chester Gillette, deliberately giving him the same initials. This case laminate collector's edition includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket.

Based on a real-life murder case, An American Tragedy is the story of Clyde Griffiths, who longs to escape the impoverished life of his fanatically religious parents and achieve financial and social success. On a more profound level, the novel is a masterful portrayal of the society whose values both shape Clyde's ambitions and seal his wretched fate; it is an unsurpassed depiction of the harsh realities of American life and of the dark side of the American dream. Extraordinary in scope and power, vivid in its sense of wholesale human waste, unceasing in its rich compassion, An American Tragedy stands as Theodore Dreiser's supreme achievement.

First published in 1925, Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" is widely considered to be one of the best American novels of the twentieth-century. It is the classic tragedy that follows the rise and fall of its central character, the social climbing and self-absorbed Clyde Griffiths. Clyde, raised by very poor and devout parents, has always dreamed of being and having more. He quickly falls under the spell of his richer and wilder co-workers at the prestigious hotel in Kansas City where he works as a bellhop and he is willing to do terrible things to be a part of their world. Clyde's sense of moral responsibility and decency begin to fade as he flees the scene of a senseless crime and his poor choices continue to follow him into the new life he tries to create for himself in New York. Soon he is caught up in a love triangle and his callousness and impulsiveness lead him to decisions with tragic and far reaching consequences. "An American Tragedy" is an absorbing and impressively detailed character study and a masterful exposition on the destructive powers of ambition, greed, and economic inequality. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

An American Tragedy is a tour de force, one of the most important novels in the American cannon. Ripped from the headlines, it follows Clyde Griffiths, a handsome, ambitious man whose religious upbringing has left him unprepared to pay the price required to realize the American Dream. It's an ambitious novel that unflinchingly confronts the lie of the American Dream and myth of a classless society with opportunities for all, and an extraordinary crime novel that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Nothing short of monumental.-- Kirkus

Sister Carrie (1900) is a novel by Theodore Dreiser about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream by first becoming a mistress to men that she perceives as superior and later as a famous actress.

Sister Carrie (1900) is a novel by Theodore Dreiser about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream by first becoming a mistress to men that she perceives as superior and later as a famous actress.