An American Tragedy (Signet Classics Ser.)

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Synopsis

Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy (1925) is nothing less than what the title holds it to be; it is the story of a weak-willed young man who is both villain and victim (the victim of a valueless, materialistic society) and someone who ultimately destroys himself.

Dreiser modeled the story of Clyde Griffiths on a real-life murder that took place in 1906; a young social climber of considerable charm murdered his pregnant girlfriend to get her out of the way so that he could instead play to the affections of a rich girl who had begun to notice him.

But An American Tragedy is more than simply a powerful murder story.

Dreiser pours his own dark yearnings into his character, Clyde Griffiths, as he details the young man's course through his ambitions of wealth, power, and satisfaction.

The Indiana-born Dreiser (1871-1945) has never cut a dashing or romantic swath through American literature.

He has no Pulitzer or Nobel Prize to signify his importance. Yet he remains for myriad reasons: his novels are often larger than life, rugged, and defy the norms of conventional morality and organized religion.

They are unapologetic in their sexual candor--in fact, outrightly frank--and challenge even modern readers.

The brooding force of Dreiser's writing casts a dark shadow across American letters.

Here in An American Tragedy, Dreiser shows us the flip side of The American Dream in a gathering storm that echoes with all of the power and force of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

Inspired by the writings of Balzac and the ideas of Spenser and Freud, Dreiser went on to become one of America's best naturalist writers.

An American Tragedy is testimony to the strength of Dreiser's work: it retains all of its original intensity and force.

Copyright:
1925

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
896 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780795311512
Related ISBNs:
9780795353123
Publisher:
RosettaBooks
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Theodore Dreiser
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Literature and Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers
Grade Levels:
Seventh grade, Eighth grade, Ninth grade, Tenth grade, Eleventh grade, Twelfth grade
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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