{"product_id":"an-american-tragedy","title":"An American Tragedy","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis epic of class, ambition, and murder in the early twentieth century is \"[a] masterpiece...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmerica's \u003ci\u003eCrime and Punishment\u003c\/i\u003e\" (\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Theodore Dreiser's \u003ci\u003eAn American Tragedy\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of a weak-willed young man who is both a villain and a victim of the valueless, materialistic society around him. Inspired by the true story of an early twentieth-century murder and adapted into a classic film under the title \u003ci\u003eA Place in the Sun\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAn American Tragedy\u003c\/i\u003e follows Clyde Griffiths as he is drawn into a circle of wealthy friends despite his own poverty-stricken background. Leaving the needs of his family behind as he buys expensive presents to impress a rich girl, Clyde finds that his new life leads him into a tragedy born of recklessness. Yet he continues to yearn ambitiously for money and status--a desire that will be his downfall. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Dreiser is widely regarded as the strongest of the novelists who have written about America as a business civilization. No one else confronted so directly the sheer intractability of American social life and institutions.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker \u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"RosettaBooks","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48515292922105,"sku":"9780795353123","price":28.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/1811\/7625\/files\/imageloader_3efc832a-d9f4-4cdd-826a-c372c65c7fcf.jpg?v=1781207506","url":"https:\/\/hookeandplotte.com\/products\/an-american-tragedy","provider":"Hooke and Plotte Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}