Frank Norris

The Pacific and Southern Railroad engages in corrupt legislation to rob the farmers of their savings from the wheat crops. A grim harvest of death and disillusionment, and financial and moral ruin is yielded.

Inspired by an actual crime that was sensationalized in the San Francisco papers, this novel tells the story of charlatan dentist McTeague and his wife Trina, and their spiralling descent into moral corruption. Norris is often considered to be the "American Zola," and this passionate tale of greed, degeneration, and death is one of the most purely naturalistic American novels of the nineteenth century. It is also one of the first major works of literature...

"Reprint of a 1902 novel which tells the story of Curtis Jadwin, a man whose increasing attention to earning money in the wheat market of Chicago almost destroys his marriage." ***"In the sequel to 'The Octopus, ' Curtis Jadwin works so hard to make money on the Chicago stock exchange that he ignores his loving wife." ***"This classic literary critique of turn-of-the-century capitalism in the United States reveals Norris's powerful story of an obsessed...

Published after the author's untimely death, this 1904 collection includes stories that originally appeared in publications between 1901 and 1903. The title story was made into the film A Corner in Wheat. Also included are "A Bargain with Peg-Leg," "Two Hearts that Beat as One," and "The Dual Personality of Slick Dick Nickerson."

From the author of The Octopus comes this compelling novel about an intrepid explorer who returns from an Arctic expedition to earn the love of an independent woman. A naturalist, Frank Norris was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which is reflected in this novel as he attempts to explore the power dynamic in a male-female relationship.

What if you could move to Mars permanently and live there comfortably? You might have to work like a modern-day pioneer, but you would have complete freedom and live in comfortable surroundings, other than the occasional trip outside in a spacesuit. Thousands of people will be able to. SpaceX has a completely reusable rocket called Starship, which is capable of carrying 100+ tons (over 220,000 lbs) to Mars at a relatively reasonable cost. Elon Musk,...

In his brief career -- he died at 32 -- Frank Norris introduced fresh and sometimes shocking elements into American fiction. Inspired by the naturalistic "new novel" developed in France by Zola and Flaubert, he adapted it to American settings, adding his own taste for exciting action and a fascination with the emerging sciences of economics and psychology. Vandover and the brute, set in a vividly described San Francisco, captures with harsh realism...

The Octopus: A Story of California is a story of corporate greed, power, and abuse. A group of wheat farmers agree to work a railway company's land in exchange for assurances that after a ten-year period they will be able to purchase the land at a reasonable price. When it comes time for the purchase of the land, the railway company decides to go back on its promise and brings its power to bear against the farmers. Inspired by the Southern Pacific...