Sister Carrie

by Dreiser, Theodore; Lingeman, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780451527608
• ISBN10: 0451527607
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Signet Classics

Summary

From the day of its troubled publication in 1900 to its inclusion in Modern Library's list of Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century, Sister Carrie has been the source of controversy and debate. Regarded as the "first masterpiece of the American naturalistic movement" (The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature), this 100th Anniversary Edition of the classic includes additional material by the author and a new introduction by the definitive Dreiser biographer.

Author Biography

Theodore Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1871. He received his early education in the public schools and later attended Indiana University. He began his writing career as a newspaperman, working in Chicago, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. In 1907 he was appointed editor-in-chief of the Butterick Publications in New York City. Meanwhile his first novel, Sister Carrie (1900), had been purchased by a publisher who thought it objectionable and made little effort to promote its sale; however, some review copies were distributed and the book managed to attract the attention of many prominent writers. With the publication of The Financier (1912), a novel based on the life of Charles T. Yerkes, Dreiser was able to give up newspaper work and devote himself to writing. The "Genius" (1915), a novel of the egocentric artistic personality, was banned, but a year later a petition protesting this was signed by almost five hundred American writers. An American Tragedy (1925), based on an actual criminal case history, brought the author widespread recognition and popularity. It was successfully dramatized by Patrick Kearney. In 1944 Dreiser was awarded the Merit Medal for Fiction by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Although he published little during the later years of his life, The Bulwark (1946) and The Stoic (1947) appeared posthumously, both showing his later interest in religious philosophy. He died at his home in southern California, in 1945. Richard Lingeman is the author of a two-volume biography of Theodore Dreiser. He has also written a history of small town America, among other books. Now at work on a biography of Sinclair Lewis, he lives in New York City where he is a senior editor of The Nation.

Table of Contents

The Magnet Attracting: A Waif Amid Forces	p. 1
What Poverty Threatened: Of Granite and Brass	p. 8
Wee Question of Fortune: Four-Fifty a Week	p. 12
The Spendings of Fancy: Facts Answer with Sneers	p. 20
A Glittering Night Flower: The Use of a Name	p. 30
The Machine and the Maiden: A Knight of To-day	p. 35
The Lure of the Material: Beauty Speaks for Itself	p. 45
Intimations by Winter: An Ambassador Summoned	p. 53
Convention's Own Tinder-box: The Eye That Is Green	p. 59
The Counsel of Winter: Fortune's Ambassador Calls	p. 64
The Persuasion of Fashion: Feeling Guards O'er Its Own	p. 71
Of the Lamps of the Mansions: The Ambassador's Plea	p. 78
His Credentials Accepted: A Babel of Tongues	p. 85
With Eyes and Not Seeing: One Influence Wanes	p. 92
The Irk of the Old Ties: The Magic of Youth	p. 98
A Witless Aladdin: The Gate to the World	p. 107
A Glimpse Through the Gateway: Hope Lightens the Eye	p. 113
Just Over the Border: A Hail and Farewell	p. 120
An Hour in Elfland: A Clamour Half Heard	p. 124
The Lure of the Spirit: The Flesh in Pursuit	p. 134
The Lure of the Spirit: The Flesh in Pursuit	p. 141
The Blaze of the Tinder: Flesh Wars with the Flesh	p. 144
A Spirit in Travail: One Rung Put Behind	p. 153
Ashes of Tinder: A Face at the Window	p. 162
Ashes of Tinder: The Loosing of Stays	p. 165
The Ambassador Fallen: A Search for the Gate	p. 169
When Waters Engulf Us We Reach for a Star	p. 178
A Pilgrim, an Outlaw: The Spirit Detained	p. 186
The Solace of Travel: The Boats of the Sea	p. 194
The Kingdom of Greatness: The Pilgrim Adream	p. 204
A Pet of Good Fortune: Broadway Flaunts Its Joys	p. 210
The Feast of Belshazzar: A Seer to Translate	p. 217
Without the Walled City: The Slope of the Years	p. 228
The Grind of the Millstones: A Sample of Chaff	p. 234
The Passing of Effort: The Visage of Care	p. 241
A Grim Retrogression: The Phantom of Chance	p. 249
The Spirit Awakens: New Search for the Gate	p. 257
In Elf Land Disporting: The Grim World Without	p. 263
Of Lights and of Shadows: The Parting of Worlds	p. 271
A Public Dissension: A Final Appeal	p. 280
The Strike	p. 286
A Touch of Spring: The Empty Shell	p. 299
The World Turns Flatterer: An Eye in the Dark	p. 306
And This Is Not Elf Land: What Gold Will Not Buy	p. 313
Curious Shifts of the Poor	p. 320
Stirring Troubled Waters	p. 331
The Way of the Beaten: A Harp in the Wind	p. 340
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