{"product_id":"theodore-dreiser-an-american-tragedy-library-of-america-no140","title":"Theodore Dreiser: An American Tragedy (Library of America No.140)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis Library of America volume contains the novel that is the culmination of Theodore Dreisers elementally powerful fictional art. A tremendous bestseller when it was first published in 1925  An American Tragedy takes as point of departure a notorious murder case of 1906one among many that Dreiser studied in preparation. He immersed himself in the social background of the crime to produce a book that is a remarkable work of reportage  a monumental study of character  and a stunning jeremiad against the delusions and inequities of American society.  Few novels have undertaken to track so relentlessly the process by which an ordinary young man becomes capable of committing a ruthless murder and the further process by which social and political forces come into play after his arrest. In Clyde Griffiths  the impoverished  restless offspring of a family of street preachers  Dreiser created an unforgettable portrait of a man whose social insecurities and naive dreams of self-betterment conspire to pull him toward act of unforgivable violence. The murder that he commits on a quiet lake in the Adirondacks is an extended scene of overwhelming impact  and it is followed by equally gripping episodes of his arrest and trial. Throughout  Dreiser elevates the most mundane aspects of what he observes into emotionally charged  often harrowing symbols.  Around Clyde  Dreiser builds an extraordinarily detailed portrait of early twentieth-century America  its religious and sexual hypocrisies  its economic pressures  its political corruption and journalistic exploitation. The sheer prophetic amplitude of his bitter truth-telling  in idiosyncratic prose of uncanny expressiveness  continues to mark Dreiser as a crucially important American writer. An American Tragedy  the great achievement of his later years  is a work of mythic force  at once brutal and heartbreaking.  LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nations literary heritage by publishing  and keeping permanently in print  Americas best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date  authoritative editions that average 1 000 pages in length  feature cloth covers  sewn bindings  and ribbon markers  and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946692964405,"sku":"ByrdShop_1931082316","price":35.22,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781931082310.jpg?v=1769961424","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/theodore-dreiser-an-american-tragedy-library-of-america-no140","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}