An American Tragedy
Book description
This landmark 1925 novel about a social climber who murders his pregnant lover is both a riveting crime story and a devastating commentary on the American dream. A VINTAGE CLASSIC.
Theodore Dreiser was inspired by a true story to write this novel about an ambitious, socially insecure young man who…
Why read it?
2 authors picked An American Tragedy as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Also by Dreiser, An American Tragedy, 1925, is the slow-moving and heavy-handed but steadily engrossing and ultimately overwhelming account of a poor boy so bewitched by a beautiful rich girl that he commits literal murder and loses his own life in his struggle to have her.
From William's list on the allure of wealth, status, and illicit romance.
Like many people, I find Dreiser an interesting case. He was a terrible stylist who still managed to produce remarkably powerful novels. His 1925 bestseller, An American Tragedy, is a perfect example: often clumsily written but gripping from beginning to end. It’s a fictionalized version of a sensational real-life case: the 1906 death of Grace Brown, a factory girl drowned during a vacation with her lover, Chester Gillette, who had reportedly become infatuated with a well-to-do beauty. Dreiser’s version of Gillette is Clyde Griffiths, a poor boy in pursuit of the self-indulgence he identifies with the American Dream. Employed…
From Harold's list on inspired by true crimes.
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