An American Tragedy (1925) is a novel by Theodore Dreiser. Written and
rewritten over a number of years, An American Tragedy is a weighty
epic with a cleareyed vision of the decay at the heart of industrialized
society. Based on the murder of Grace Brown in 1906, the novel proved
controversial for its depiction of depravity and violence, but has
endured as a classic of naturalist fiction and remains a powerful
example of social critique nearly a century after its publication. A
young Midwesterner bucks against his puritan upbringing, drinking with
acquaintances and frequenting prostitutes when he isn't busy working any
number of thankless jobs. As friends and lovers come and go, he fails to
find footing in a society fueled by ambition and cunning. Forced to flee
Kansas City after a deadly auto accident, Clyde moves to Chicago before
settling in Lycurgus, New York, where he meets a young farmgirl named
Roberta Allen. When she becomes pregnant, Clyde begins to feel his
dreams of freedom fade, and longs for a way out of marriage. Desperate
and confused, he turns to a beautiful socialite named Sondra Finchley,
the daughter of a local factory owner. Clyde knows what he should
do--marry Roberta, settle down, raise a family--but his reckless ways
refuse to remain in the past. With a beautifully designed cover and
professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Theodore Dreiser's
An American Tragedy is a classic of American literature reimagined for
modern readers.