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Sister Carrie
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Sister Carrie Paperback - 2009

by Theodore Dreiser; Lee Clark Mitchell (Editor)


About this book

Journalist-turned-author Theodore Dreiser’s novel Sister Carrie, which some consider to be the “greatest of all American urban novels,” is the quintessential country-mouse-in-the-city story, only more… risqué. The novel tells the story of Caroline “Sister Carrie” Meeber, a young girl from rural Wisconsin who moves to Chicago with hopes of becoming a star. Carrie first stays with her older sister and her husband, but she soon becomes involved with a married man and a series of other morally questionable decisions follow. While Carrie may sound obviously blinded by her dreams of a glamorous future — and some may argue that’s because she is — Dreiser chose to present her character and others with a focus on human instinct as opposed to judgment, making it an early work of the naturalist movement.

As one might expect, Dreiser had a difficult time finding and securing a publisher for Sister Carrie. After the manuscript had already been rejected twice, Doubleday, Page’s Frank Norris, author of the naturalistic novel McTeague, offered Dreiser a contract for the publication. This resulted in some upset within the publishing house — primarily due to book’s “lack of morality” — and Doubleday, Page tried to back out of the deal. Dreiser demanded that the contract be fulfilled and Doubleday published 1,008 copies in November 1900. However, the novel was perhaps not as thoroughly publicized as it could have been. Just 465 copies actually sold (not including the 129 that were sent out for reviews). The remaining 423 copies were later turned over to a remainder house.

Unsurprisingly, Sister Carrie received negative response shortly after publication. Beyond the novel’s general sexual content and overall pessimistic tone, critics of the time took issue with the idea of Carrie engaging in illicit sexual relationships without suffering any consequences. Also unsurprisingly, Sister Carrie is another example of a masterpiece that could only be appreciated with time. In his 1930 Nobel Prize lecture, Sinclair Lewis compared the impact of Dreiser’s Sister Carrie to the work of Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. Carrie, a film adaptation directed by William Wyler and starring Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones, premiered in 1952.

Sister Carrie is ranked 33rd on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.

From the publisher

When a girl leaves her home at eighteen, she does one of two things. Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better, or she rapidly assumes the cosmopolitan standard of virtue and becomes worse.' The tale of Carrie Meeber's rise to stardom in the theatre and George Hurstwood's slow decline captures the twin poles of exuberance and exhaustion in modern city life as never before. The premier example of American naturalism, Dreiser's remarkable first novel has deeply influenced such key writers as William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Saul Bellow, and Joyce Carol Oates. This edition uses the 1900 text, which is regarded as the author's final version. About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

First Edition Identification

Doubleday, Page first published Sister Carrie in 1900. Bound in red cloth, first editions have the same date listed on the title page as the copyright page.

Details

  • Title Sister Carrie
  • Author Theodore Dreiser; Lee Clark Mitchell (Editor)
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reissue
  • Pages 512
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Oxford University Press, USA
  • Date 2009-05-15
  • Features Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780199539086 / 0199539081
  • Weight 0.75 lbs (0.34 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.6 x 5 x 1 in (19.30 x 12.70 x 2.54 cm)
  • Reading level 990
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Mid-Atlantic
    • Cultural Region: Northeast U.S.
    • Geographic Orientation: New York
    • Locality: New York, N.Y.
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
    • Topical: Coming of Age
  • Library of Congress subjects Bildungsromans, Didactic fiction
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2009291575
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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Sister Carrie (Oxford World's Classics)

Sister Carrie (Oxford World's Classics)

by Dreiser, Theodore

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Sister Carrie (Oxford Worlds Classics)

by Dreiser, Theodore

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Sister Carrie
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Sister Carrie

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by Theodore Dreiser; Editor-Lee Clark Mitchell

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Sister Carrie (Oxford World's Classics)

by Dreiser, Theodore

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