Sister Carrie Mass market paperback - 1982
by Theodore Dreiser
- Used
- Paperback
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
From the jacket flap
"Sister Carrie came to housebound and airless America like a great
free Western wind, and to our
stuffy domesticity gave us the first
fresh air since Mark Twain and Whitman," noted Sinclair Lewis. "Dreiser enlarged, willy-nilly, by
a kind of historical accident if
The Modern Library has played a significant role in American cultural life for the better part of a century. The series was founded in 1917 by the publishers Boni and Liveright and eight years later acquired by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer. It provided the foundation for their next publishing venture, Random House. The Modern Library has been a staple of the American book trade, providing readers with afford-
able hardbound editions of impor-
tant works of literature and thought. For the Modern Library's seventy-
fifth anniversary, Random House redesigned the series, restoring
as its emblem the running torch-
bearer created by Lucian Bernhard in 1925 and refurbishing jackets, bindings, and type, as well asinau-
gurating a new program of selecting titles. The Modern Library continues to provide the world's best books, at the best prices.
"From the Hardcover edition.
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
- Binding Mass Market Paperback
- Edition [ Edition: Repri
- Condition New
- Pages 560
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Bantam Classics, New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Date 1982
- Bookseller's Inventory # G0553213741I2N00
- ISBN 9780553213744 / 0553213741
- Weight 0.59 lbs (0.27 kg)
- Dimensions 6.91 x 4.19 x 0.94 in (17.55 x 10.64 x 2.39 cm)
- Reading level 990
-
Themes
- Cultural Region: Mid-Atlantic
- Cultural Region: Northeast U.S.
- Geographic Orientation: New York
- Locality: New York, N.Y.
- Library of Congress subjects New York (N.Y.), Young women
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Categories
Excerpt
About the author
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Sister Carrie
by Theodore Dreiser
- Used
- Paperback
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- 9780553213744 / 0553213741
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Sister Carrie
by Dreiser, Theodore
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Sister Carrie
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Sister Carrie
by Dreiser, Theodore
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Sister Carrie
by Dreiser, Theodore
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- 9780553213744 / 0553213741
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Sister Carrie
by Dreiser, Theodore
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Sister Carrie
by Theodore Dreiser; E.L. Doctorow [Introduction]
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Sister Carrie
by Theodore Dreiser
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- 9780553213744 / 0553213741
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Seattle, Washington, United States
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Sister Carrie
by Theodore Dreiser
- Used
- Acceptable
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780553213744 / 0553213741
- Quantity Available
- 2
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Seattle, Washington, United States
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Show Details
Sister Carrie
by Theodore Dreiser; E.L. Doctorow [Introduction]
- Used
- Paperback
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780553213744 / 0553213741
- Quantity Available
- 800
- Seller
-
Fairfax Station, Virginia, United States
- Item Price
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NZ$11.33NZ$6.60 shipping to USA