num_pages: 859
description: 'An American Tragedy' is the story of Clyde Griffiths, who spends his life in the desperate pursuit of success. On a deeper, more profound level, it is the masterful portrayal of the society whose values both shape Clyde's ambitions and seal his fate; it is an unsurpassed depiction of the harsh realities of American life and of the dark side of the American dream. Extraordinary in scope and power, vivid in its sense of wholesale human waste, unceasing in its rich compassion, 'An American Tragedy' stands as Theodore Dreiser's supreme achievement.Based on an actual criminal case, 'An American Tragedy' was the inspiration for the film 'A Place in the Sun', which won six Academy Awards and starred Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.
language: English
title: An American Tragedy
titlecomplete: An American Tragedy
characters: Hortense Briggs, Roberta Alden, Clyde Griffiths, Gilbert Griffiths, Miss Vanda Steele, Orville Mason, Charlie Trone, Legare Atterbury, Elvira Griffiths, Tom Keary, Reuben Jephson, Frank Harriet, Alvin Belknap, Thomas Ratterer, Samuel Griffiths, Sondra Finchley, Justice Oberwaltzer, Sonda, Bert Gettler, Perley Haynes, Violet Taylor, Esta Griffiths, Asa Griffiths, Nicholas Kraut, Mr. Shurlock, Mrs. George Newton
genres: 20th Century, Literature, American, Banned Books, Classics, Crime, Novels, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Classic Literature
ratings_count: 36358
places: Lycurgus, New York, Kansas City, Missouri
publisher: Signet Classics