num_pages: 448
description: During a trip to Europe, Christopher Newman, a wealthy American businessman, asks the charming Claire de Cintre to be his wife. To his dismay, he receives an icy reception from the heads of her family, who find Newman to be a vulgar example of the American privileged class. Brilliantly combining elements of comedy, tragedy, romance and melodrama, this tale of thwarted desire vividly contrasts nineteenth-century American and European manners. Oxford's edition of The American, which was first published in 1877, is the only one that uses James' revised 1907 text."
language: English
title: The American
titlecomplete: The American (Oxford World's Classics)
genres: Fiction, France, American, Literature, Romance, Classics, Novels, 19th Century, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 6640
places: France, Paris, Biarritz, San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain
publisher: Oxford University Press