An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

Clyde Griffiths is a young man with ambitions. He's in love with a rich girl, but it's a poor girl he has gotten pregnant, Roberta Alden, who works with him at his uncle's factory. One day he takes Roberta canoeing on a lake with the intention of killing her. From there his fate is sealed. But by then Dreiser has made plain that Clyde's fate was long before sealed by a brutal and cynical society. The usual criticism of Dreiser is that, line for line, he's the weakest of the great American novelists. And it's true that he takes a pipe fitter's approach to writing, joining workmanlike sentences one to the other. But by the end he will have built them into a powerful network, and something vital will be flowing through them.—R.L.

- Time

The 228th greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 16th on The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels (Modern Library)
  2. - 21st on Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Novels (Entertainment Weekly)
  3. - 68th on The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time (The Novel 100)
  4. - 88th on Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels (Radcliffe Publishing Course)
  5. - 96th on 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction (Larry McCaffery)
  6. - "Our Readable Century", The Best Books of the 20th Century (January Magazine)
  7. - Finest Works of Fiction (Martin Seymour-Smith and Editors)
  8. - TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels (TIME Magazine)
  9. - The Dream of the Great American Novel (Book)
  10. - The College Board: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers (The College Board, an American not-for-profit organization)
  11. - 100 Major Works of Modern Creative Nonfiction (About.com)
  12. - The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
  13. - Världsbiblioteket (The World Library) (Tidningen Boken)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
An American Tragedy Paperback 2387854 $498.52 $2.06
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 342127 $3.99 2021
An American tragedy (Meridian books) Hardcover 4897470 $3.50
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 501260 $3.99 2021
An American Tragedy (RosettaBooks into Film) Kindle Edition 45125 $6.99 2010
An American Tragedy (Signet Classics) Mass Market Paperback 743987 $5.00 $0.25 2000
An American Tragedy (Classic Books on CD Collection) [UNABRIDGED] Audio CD 3388186 $52.19 $62.00 2010
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 519411 $2.99 2021
Theodore Dreiser An American Tragedy Hardcover 2007030 $49.54 $139.94 1925
An American Tragedy (Signet Classics) Publisher: Signet Classics Paperback 2421494 $22.82 $20.10
An American Tragedy (World Cultural Heritage Library) Paperback 15839163 $2.00 2009
An American Tragedy Paperback 4762145 $15.99
An American Tragedy Hardcover 5346503 $15.99
An American Tragedy Kindle Edition 589065 $0.00 2021
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 357299 $2.99 2021
An American Tragedy (Annotated) Paperback 643033 $19.99 2021
AMERICAN TRAGEDY Paperback 2168799 $3.51 1960
An American Tragedy Hardcover 1439644 $55.00 $5.00
An American Tragedy Mass Market Paperback 7870339 $9.99 2
An American Tragedy (Signet Classics (Pb)) Hardcover 7242014 $37.31 2000
An American tragedy Hardcover 3725311 $15.00
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 654233 $3.99 2021
An American Tragedy Hardcover 6161482 $14.60
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 557148 $3.99 2022
American Tragedy Hardcover 7745066 $14.75
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AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY Hardcover 3851886 $4.00
By Theodore Dreiser - Theodore Dreiser: An American Tragedy (Library of America No.140) (2003-03-25) [Hardcover] Hardcover 1007309 $47.64 $25.98 2003
An American Tragedy Hardcover 1309387 $41.99
An American Tragedy (Two Volumes In One Complete and Unexpurgated) Hardcover 7090974 $19.99
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 341583 $3.99 2021
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An American Tragedy Hardcover 3864227 $42.00 $4.75
An American Tragedy Audible Audio Edition 11079 $53.95 2011
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 1202989 $2.99 2021
An American Tragedy Annotated Kindle Edition 449006 $2.99 2021
An American Tragedy [Two Volume Set] Hardcover 4364835 $29.99
An American Tragedy, Vol. 1 Paperback 6638935 $473.01 2008
An American Tragedy Hardcover 2384332 $29.95 1954
An American Tragedy Hardcover 5512562 $45.95 $27.34 1990
An American Tragedy Paperback 368598 $14.39 2016
American Tragedy Hardcover 1169400 $24.22 2010
An American Tragedy (Illustrated) Paperback 4209047 $20.00 2020
An American Tragedy (Volume III) Paperback 5052337 $12.00 2019
An American Tragedy Paperback 53176 $14.99 2018
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser Paperback 258719 $11.00 2017
An American Tragedy Paperback 3285089 $4.99 1959
An American Tragedy Mass Market Paperback 1283834 $104.83 $2.50
An American Tragedy Paperback 307899 $7.99 2018
An American Tragedy: The Original Classic Edition by Theodore Dreiser - Unabridged and Annotated For Modern Readers and Book Clubs Kindle Edition 516326 $0.99 2022
An American Tragedy Kindle Edition 64760 2017
An American Tragedy Paperback 190460 $20.49 2018
Una tragedia americana (An American Tragedy) (Narrativa (Punto de Lectura)) (Spanish Edition) Mass Market Paperback 2013866 $79.05 $12.71 2007
An American Tragedy Hardcover 1572996 $10.00 $0.97
An American Tragedy Hardcover 1599972 $24.99 $37.49 2021
AN American Tragedy (Signet classics) Mass Market Paperback 2087708 $8.90 $0.01 1964
American Tragedy (Signet Books) Paperback 7908484 $1.80 1967
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser - The Franklin Library - Hubert Davis Illustrations Hardcover 897186 $35.00 $50.00
An American Tragedy (Flame Tree Collectable Crime Classics) Hardcover 506280 $10.30 2020
An American Tragedy (Complete) Paperback 4807078 $24.00 $31.86 2019
THEODORE DREISER: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY By Dreiser, Theodore (Author) Hardcover on 10-Mar-2003 Hardcover 8471026 $55.93 2003
An American Tragedy Kindle Edition 176349 $0.60 2022
AN American Tragedy (Signet classics) Mass Market Paperback 2129303 $12.50 $0.01 1964
An American Tragedy Paperback 8230985 $2,416.87 $24.95
An American Tragedy Kindle Edition 269747 2019
Theodore Dreiser: An American Tragedy (Library of America No.140) Hardcover 736620 $26.84 $4.79 2003
An American Tragedy Hardcover 8487791 $44.99 $5.00
An American tragedy (Meridian books) Paperback 8520175 $3.43
An American Tragedy (Volume II) Paperback 1719919 $13.00 2019
The Symbolic Drawings Of Hubert Davis For An American Tragedy Paperback 9162546 $17.38 $58.74 2011
An American Tragedy Annotated Audible Audiobook 187056 $21.83 2022
An American Tragedy Hardcover 7396200 $69.72
An American Tragedy Mass Market Paperback 364768 $7.42 $1.35 2010
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An American tragedy, Hardcover 8399529 $4.00
An American Tragedy Kindle Edition 31248 $1.99 2014
An American Tragedy Hardcover 2779457 $72.99 $39.99
An American Tragedy (2 volumes) Hardcover 5059458 $75.00