Theodore Dreiser, a renowned American writer, emerged as a pivotal figure bridging the era of Victorian America and the modern age that unfolded after World War I and the publication of Sinclair Lewis' "Main Street" in 1920. As a naturalist with a strong social conscience, Dreiser was a committed socialist during a time when socialism was a prominent political force in the United States, with many socialist mayors and state legislators before the post-WWI "Red Scare" decimated the socialist movement.
Born on August 27, 1871, in Terre Haute, Indiana, Dreiser was the twelfth of thirteen children born to John Paul and Sarah Dreiser, with ten of his siblings surviving infancy. His father, John, was a German immigrant and a strict Baptist, while his mother, Sarah, hailed from a Mennonite community that later converted to Roman Catholicism. Dreiser's older brother, Paul Dresser, became a celebrated songwriter.
Theodore Dreiser attended Indiana University from 1889 to 1890 but failed to graduate and instead embarked on a journalism career in Chicago and St. Louis. He married Sara White in 1898, but the marriage ultimately failed, and they separated in 1909, with Dreiser never divorcing his wife.
Dreiser's debut novel, "Sister Carrie," published in 1900, is widely regarded as a classic and a seminal work of American literature. However, the publisher's lack of promotion likely due to the novel's controversial subject matter (adultery and extramarital sex) resulted in poor sales. Dreiser did not achieve best-seller status for nearly a quarter-century, until the publication of "An American Tragedy" in 1925, which was later adapted into the 1951 film "A Place in the Sun" directed by George Stevens.
Theodore Dreiser passed away on December 28, 1945, shortly after joining the Communist Party, a move that Ernest Hemingway perceived as an attempt by an old man to redeem his soul.
