Product Description
The classic depiction of the harsh realities of American life, the dark side of the American Dream, and one man's doomed pursuit of love and success...

"Mr. Dreiser is not imitative and belongs to no school. He is at heart a mysticist and a fatalist, though using the realistic method. He is, on the evidence of this novel alone, a power."-The New York Times Book Review

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 102 reviews)

Welcome To The Machine

A long, labourious read, this. One reviewer has commented that Dreiser leaves no stone unturned. I would put it rather that he leaves no pebble unturned. The book, as far as prose style is concerned is - to be quite frank - an ugly book. Even Dreiser's admirers here and elsewhere admit this.

Nevertheless, the book, a bildungsroman of the character Clyde Griffiths, leaves one, regardless of how erudite and well-read one is, unsettled and disturbed. Unlike Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel or Phillip Carey in Of Human Bondage or Stephen Daedalus in A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, Clyde is not particularly artistic or intellectual - or, really, particularly much of anything. This makes for, along with Dreiser's, at times, simply horrid prose, a book with which one feels one ought not to bother at several points along the way. Personally, for instance, I think that the whole third "book" should be at least halved.

But, as H.L. Mencken says in the Introduction to my copy of the book, the fatalism deeply engrained in the sinews of the work is what makes it what it is. At the end - actually well before it - one can't imagine things turning out any differently than they do. But as we read the final pages, thoughtful readers will reach the unsettling conclusion that they are not immune to a plight such as Clyde's, that had things gone differently at a certain point in their lives, had the wheels turned a bit more slowly or more swiftly, they might well (if they have had any life at all in them somewhere along the way) found themselves in Clyde's predicament. Ultimately, then, the work is not an indictment of America or its materialism, as almost all reviews posit; it is an indictment of life itself. It is an unpleasant yet powerful read.

September 25, 2008

classic American epic, tragic and compelling

Dreiser's masterpiece, An American Tragedy is a thick novel, divided by the author into three books not just for length but for content.

The first book sets up Clyde Griffith's and his background, showing how he longed to do better for himself than what he perceived his parents had done. He wanted bright lights, money, easy living - and it seems he is heading that way after he makes a break from the family, working for a hotel. This books ends abruptly with the first physical tragedy, sending Clyde running away as he will run away from future troubles.

The second book is the heart of this novel, in my opinion. Clyde's ever desperate attempts to ingratiate himself upon his social betters, to use the Griffith's name for all it is worth, while at the same time secreting his affair with Roberta, is wrenching fiction. You both loathe his weaknesses and understand his passions. Dreiser exposes the hollowness of Clyde's views and aspirations with prose that is just as accessible as a modern novel.

The third book went a little slower for me, with near constant re-hashing of the events from the second, in particular the final episodes on the lake. However, this isn't without merit - it is needed to bring the reader to understand Clyde's state of mind, and how he comes to address these issues with the Reverend, his mother and most importantly himself.

An American Tragedy is entertaining as drama, and enlightening to the human condition. It deserves recognition as Dreiser's ultimate work.
May 08, 2008

great book

i loved this book and for the dumbest reason, i didn't want to finish the book, only because i knew what was going to happen. i didn't think the prose was long and windy, rather i found it beautifully written. perhaps one of the most beautifully written book i've ever read..
February 20, 2008

American Society, Dissected

This novel provides an engrossing view of American society in the early 1900s by following the partial rise and complete downfall of Clive Griffiths. The examination of Griffiths's life offers comments on poverty, wealth, religion, politics and morality. Griffiths is truly a flawed hero, and the reader will have trouble finding sympathy for him despite his deprived background. His greatest sin is that he is never satisfied; he always wants more. In the end he discovers that "more" comes at great cost to himself and those who care for him.
February 19, 2008

PONDEROUS

Wow, what a ponderous read! I know this was the era of yellow journalism and sensationalistic literature, but OMIGOD, this could've been reduced to 1/3 its length with the removal of superfluous adjectives!
September 24, 2007

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