Showing results for "Booth Tarkington" in Classics

"The Magnificent Ambersons" is the 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington which won the 1919 Pulitzer Prize. It is the second novel in "The Growth Trilogy," which includes "The Turmoil"(1915) and "The Midlander" (1923). In 1942, Orson Welles directed a film version of it, also titled "The Magnificent Ambersons" and starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, and Anne Baxter. The novel and trilogy traces the growth of the United States through the declining fortunes of three generations of the aristocratic Amberson family.

The Magnificent Ambersons tells the story of the rise and fall of a wealthy Midwestern family as America transitions from a genteel, aristocratic society to a fast-paced, industrial age. At the center is George Amberson Minafer, the spoiled heir of the proud Amberson family, who struggles to accept change and the loss of his family's social status.

Bigger, newer, faster. Demolish and rebuild, then demolish and rebuild again. Smoke, soot, and noise are the badges of prosperity, and growth is for growth's sake.

The second book in what would become known as Booth Tarkington's "growth trilogy" is about a small Midwestern town rapidly transforming into a modern industrial city. The Ambersons, once the town's most glamorous old-money family, is unable to adapt to the changing environment and is slowly declining toward oblivion, while Eugene Morgan and his newly invented motorcar are the future.

Bigger, newer, faster. Demolish and rebuild, then demolish and rebuild again. Smoke, soot, and noise are the badges of prosperity, and growth is for growth's sake.

In this American classic, 17-year-old William is in the throes of first love. Lola Pratt, the object of his affection, is visiting her cousin in William's town for the summer. William finds obstacles at every turn in winning her affections, in the form of other suitors, a pesky little sister, and the necessity of the "perfect outfit". With the pomposity of Frasier Crane and the soul of a poet, William attempts to win Miss Pratt's heart and to be the sole recipient of her charming "baby talk".

Set in the Midwest in the early 20th century---the dawn of the automobile age--- The Magnificent Ambersons begins by introducing the Ambersons, the richest family in town. Exemplifying aristocratic excess, the Ambersons have everything money can buy - and more. But George Amberson Minafer, the spoiled grandson of the family patriarch, is unable to see that great societal changes are taking place.

Plucky and romantic Alice tries to rise above the crudities of her hopelessly shabby background in this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic about ambition and self-delusion. The lower-middle class Adams family faces a slow disintegration in a small Midwestern town. Alice, a social climber, is ashamed of her unsuccessful family and determined to distinguish herself.

The Magnificent Ambersons chronicles the changing fortunes of three generations of an American dynasty. The family serves as a metaphor for the old society that crumbled after the Industrial Revolution, as a Midwestern town spreads and darkens into a city.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel focuses on materialism and the fortunes of a Midwestern family in the early 20th century. Horseless carriages were just appearing on the scene, the strata of society was in a constant state of flux, and the inherent values of the Amberson family were fast becoming a thing of the past.

Like most children, Penrod gets caught up in his own elaborate lies with hilarious results. His friends and his dog accompany him on his many jaunts, from the stage as "the Child Sir Lancelot", to the playground, to school. They make names for themselves as "bad boys" who, fittingly, always have the most fun. This humorous, thoughtful story is a wonderful example of the real-life characterization and attention to detail for which Tarkington is celebrated.

A young man disguised as a barber forces a noble whom he has caught cheating at cards to introduce him to the lovely Lady Mary Carlisle. Love flourishes, tempers flare, and swords clash in the ensuing results!

This is the hilarious story of the escapades of 12-year-old Penrod Schofield, whose active imagination keeps him in hot water at home and at school.

The American literary tradition has, in a far shorter span of time than others throughout history, achieved a glowing and glittering reputation. From its transatlantic roots it has absorbed the sons and daughters of other cultures, other lands and made them part of her own. Within this melting pot of styles, genres and wordplay one fact stands out: In the American short story, literary tradition has a strong, vibrant and almost inclusive history, if you know where to look.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. The plains of the American Mid-West are home to some very fine exponents of the literary craft. Throughout this vast landscape stories seem to be everywhere offering their experiences as works just awaiting the final touches and flourishes of these famed authors. They deliver in very talented ways.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. A new century dawns, one in which America would become pre-eminent as its industrial might and military power rose above all others. In literature too its authors tackled new forms and new ideas, they shied away from little, immersing themselves and their readers in the promise of a new Century.

Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society. In this volume we offer up a small selection of talents from the literary landscape of the American male author whose time has now come again.