I wonder why Theodore Dreiser, another close friend of Mencken’s, isn’t part of the picture here. There’s no question that his prose is often blunt and extremely inelegant. But the force of SISTER CARRIE, JENNY GERHARDT, THE FINANCIER and AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY is undeniable. Howells, Norris and Sinclair also built the tradition of American realism but Dreiser was its driving force.
Willa Cather is also pretty important, and another great writer. Like Fitzgerald and Dreiser, she came out of the midwest.
This is great. What a work of art that novel is.
I wonder why Theodore Dreiser, another close friend of Mencken’s, isn’t part of the picture here. There’s no question that his prose is often blunt and extremely inelegant. But the force of SISTER CARRIE, JENNY GERHARDT, THE FINANCIER and AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY is undeniable. Howells, Norris and Sinclair also built the tradition of American realism but Dreiser was its driving force.
Willa Cather is also pretty important, and another great writer. Like Fitzgerald and Dreiser, she came out of the midwest.
Thanks for this essay. Now I want to read it again.
Glenway Wescott came out of the Midwest too, and William Maxwell, though he may be a bit later.