Overview

Dreiser's captivating portraits of turn-of-the-century America's famous figures In this volume, liberally seasoned with period illustrations, Yoshinobu Hakutani has collected and annotated a rich selection of Theodore Dreiser's pre-fame writings on the cultural milieu of his day. In these brief essays, Dreiser sallies into the vibrant world of creative work in turn-of-the-century America. He inspects the eccentric and revealing paraphernalia of artists' studios, probes the work habits of writers, and goes behind the scenes in the popular song-writing business, where this week's celebrity is next week's has-been. He profiles famous figures and introduces numerous women artists, novelists, and musicians, including the prolific and tireless Amelia Barr (mother of fourteen children and author of thirty-two novels), the illustrator Alice B. Stephens, and the opera singer Lillian Nordica. Hakutani's notes provide biographical detail on dozens of now-obscure individuals mentioned by Dreiser.

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Reprints thirty-three of Dreiser's articles [and] amounts to an informal survey of American arts and popular culture at the turn of the 20th century... A particular strength of the collection is the material that reveals Dreiser's interest in talented women. Choice

Reprints thirty-three of Dreiser's articles [and] amounts to an informal survey of American arts and popular culture at the turn of the 20th century... A particular strength of the collection is the material that reveals Dreiser's interest in talented women. --Choice

Author Information

Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), the leading American literary figure of the early twentieth century, is best known for novels including Sister Carrie,Jennie Gerhardt,The Titan, and An American Tragedy.Yoshinobu Hakutani, professor of English and University Distinguished Scholar at Kent State University, is the author or editor of sixteen books, including Theodore Dreiser's Uncollected Magazine Articles, 1897-1902,Theodore Dreiser and American Culture: New Readings, and Young Dreiser: A Critical Study.

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