American Tragedy

All of Theodore Dreiser's famous novels were written in the first half of the 20th century, yet they are perceived as extraordinarily modern even today. After all, they deal with the so-called "American values" and the "American dream," which are still showcased in American life. Dreiser understood what this life was really like. He suffered for his novels and knew very well what he was writing about. The father of the future writer came to America from Germany in the mid-19th century. Theodore became the twelfth child in the family. Soon after, a tragedy occurred — his father died in a fire at a weaving factory, and Theodore had to experience poverty in his childhood. To make ends meet, he worked as a newspaper seller, delivery boy, and dish washer. The life of the American poor was thoroughly known to him. Theodore sought to get an education. In 1889, he enrolled in Indiana University, but had to drop out soon — there wasn't enough money for tuition. His passion for literature prompted Dreiser to try his hand at journalism. He began to successfully collaborate with newspapers from Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York. Theodore had a lively pen. He especially excelled at literary portraits, which he sketched while interviewing famous personalities. However, personal experience in dealing with publishing house owners quickly made him realize that "free press" and "equality of opportunity" were nothing more than myths. Dreiser decided to reflect the truth of life on the pages of his own works. It is not surprising that his novels: "Sister Carrie," "The Financier," "Titan," "The Stoic" were received extremely negatively by critics, since in these works, Dreiser ruthlessly exposed the cynicism and spiritual emptiness of capitalist society. Earlier, only Mark Twain could write so freely among American authors. At the same time, Dreiser did not astonish readers with stylistic flourishes. His texts resembled reports from a pathologist, unemotionally recording the cause of a person's death. According to the writer, American society was such a corpse. In our time, Dreiser is rightly considered a bright representative of American naturalism and critical realism in literature. His novels have been translated into many languages of the world.

The text of the novel "American Tragedy" in this edition is illustrated with drawings by the contemporary Petersburg artist Tatiana Kosach. She is a specialist in Medieval art — graduated from the historical faculty of Saint Petersburg State University. Her iconographic and graphic works can be found in private collections of art lovers in Russia, the USA, Italy, and France.