Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser was born August 27, 1871 in Terre Haute, Indiana. The younger brother of Paul Dresser, a well-known songwriter, Theodore was a famous novelist known for his outstanding American writing of naturalism. He was also a leading figure in a national literary movement that replaced the observance of Victorian notions of propriety with the unflinching presentation of real-life subject matter. Even though a majority of his works were about his life experiences, he also wrote about new social problems that had risen in American at the time as well as things sexual in nature. Dreiser was born the ninth of ten surviving children in a family that was stricken with life-long poverty. His father was a German immigrant that was mostly an unemployed mill worker with a strict attitude because of his narrow Roman Catholic belief. His mother had a Czech Mennonite background and she was a fair lady that was always compassionate to her son. Because of the family's severe degree of poverty, they moved frequently between small Indiana towns and Chicago in search of a better cost of living. Dreiser did not have much of an education in his lifetime. He attended parochial and public schools including a y
He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Chicago in 1892 before working his way to the East Coast. Dreiser then wrote in 1913 about his experiences in Europe in a book titled A Traveler at Forty. The book was an instant success and it brought him a lot of fame and fortune in the world. The Great Depression of the 1930's ended Dreiser's prosperity and intensified his commitment to social causes. Helen helped him write this book, just weeks before his death. In 1925, Dreiser wrote his first novel in more than a decade. He joined the American Communist Party during his last years in life in order to fulfill his political heritage. The marriage did not last that long due to his roving affections and resulting infidelities causing their divorce in 1912. His only other significant publications in the late 1920's were a collection of stories and sketches that were not to successful. Dreiser would soon meet a woman named Sara White and they would get married in 1898. He wrote such books as A Hoosier Holiday in 1916 and A Book About Myself in 1922 as well as some plays, essays, and short-story collections. Because of the limited advertising, the book sold only 465 copies and Dreiser made less than $100 dollars on the deal. In 1938, Dreiser moved from New York to Los Angeles with Helen Richardson, who was his mistress since 1920. A visit to the Soviet Union in 1927 resulted in a book titled Dreiser Looks at Russia, which was about him being a skeptical critique of the communist society. A majority of Dreiser's books were about his own harsh experience of poverty as a youth and his early yearnings for wealth and success.
Common topics in this essay:
Frank Norris,
Paul Dresser,
Hollywood California,
American Tragedy,
Jennie Gerhardt,
Terre Haute,
Czech Mennonite,
Looks Russia,
Traveler Forty,
Theodore Dreiser,
theodore dreiser,
book titled,
dreiser wrote,
dreiser born,
terre haute,
theodore dreiser born,
family stricken,
sara white,
american tragedy,
dreiser died,
wrote novel,
|
Acceptance Essays
