Talk:Theodore Dreiser

Untitled
I would like to find out information on Dreiser and his views and acts with sexuality in his lifetime, I believe in the 1930's was the main time of these actions

Wasn't he born on August 27, not July 27?

first novel?
how can Dreiser have TWO "first novels"? (Gerhardt and Carrie) I believe Carrie was first... 76.15.49.139 (talk) 07:18, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

interoffice romance
Shouldn't this be intra office romance (as why would his employers care about inter office romances)?

I believe he was born on August 17, 1871.

You are right of course (and I suspect you are also sexy) I have changed it accordingly --JamesTheNumberless 20:27, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

A socialist?
Dreiser was a communist, Stalin's fan. It's far from socialism.Xx236 08:29, 13 June 2007 (UTC) I came across several old Russian communist era editions of his books in Bulgaria. Not many western authors were widely published behind the iron curtain, but he seems to have been one. Communist views were not a prerequisite for publication in the eastern bloc. I also came across a communist edition of "3 men in a boat" by Jerome K.Jerome113.243.255.119 (talk) 15:22, 23 October 2015 (UTC)

father's religion
Johann Paul Dreiser was a strict Roman Catholic. The town that he came from in Germany was approximately 90% Roman Catholic. Sarah's father did not disown her; in fact, he willed her a small tract of land in Indiana when he died. He did, however, shun her, according to the Mennonite and Amish tradition, due to her elopement and marriage to John Paul. Even if she had not joined the Roman Catholic Church her father would have shunned her because of her elopement and marriage. The shunning meant that she was no longer welcome at her father's house. Although Sarah did stay in touch with some of her brothers and sisters after her marriage she is thought to have never seen or spoken to her father after that time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dorsch (talk • contribs) 19:54, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

template for complete oeuvre
I've created a template for Dreiser's complete oeuvre, using this link as a guideline to sift through the list. (if the link doesn't work, it's the bibliography at the end of the 2000 Signet Books version of An American Tragedy. I hope the template can be expanded with the actual plays and short stories in brackets after the titles of the collections.Zigzig20s (talk) 23:02, 17 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Dreiser wrote foreword to Ed Sweeney's Poorhouse Sweeney (Bonni and Liveright, 1927) which detailed life in a County Poorhouse. Would it be possible to include this information somewhere in his works? His championing of this work resulted in a wider readership than this work would likely have gotten. In fact some people speculated that Mr. Dreiser wrote the work himself, until it was revealed Joseph Fishman of the Russel Sage Foundation was the one that sent it to the Bonni and Liveright. Lrgriffin3 (talk) 23:41, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

Second wife?
According to [], he married Helen Richardson in 1944, after the death of his first wife. She's not mentioned in the article. Should she be? --Alvestrand (talk) 21:01, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Last Name
The opening paragraph lists his father's name as both "Dreiser" and "Dresser". Which of these are correct? Up until I read this bit I had always assumed Dreiser was his true last name (I'd assume Dresser is anglicized). I have gone ahead and put both as "Dreiser" for the sake of keeping the article professional, but I would like this to be cleared up. --MercZ (talk) 02:53, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

Short story about lynching
The stories name is not "Cracker" its "Nigger Jeff".

Editorializing?
This bit should be cited or removed, I think: "Dreiser's great theme was the tremendous tensions that can arise among ambition, desire, and social mores." It sounds like what Wikipedia folk call original research. Franknarf11 (talk) 13:06, 20 September 2011 (UTC)
 * good point--I added a cite. Rjensen (talk) 15:10, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

"Published as"
The meaning of the section titled "Published as" is completely opaque to me. Its meaning should be made clear, or it should be deleted.

--108.49.158.121 (talk) 01:13, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
 * good point. I fixed it (by deletion of header) Rjensen (talk) 01:18, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Numerous small changes, inline citations, image
Greetings Wikipedias! I'm far from being an expert on Dreiser, but Thomas P. Riggio apparently is - see this NY Times article. His excellent chronology of Dreiser's life is the source for most of the changes and citations I inserted today. The material about the Titanic and atheism seemed out of place under Career, so I moved them to Personal Life. Edgar Lee Masters' poem about Dreiser (see Personal Life) is a must-read for any Dreiser enthusiast. As for the caricature... I couldn't resist. Cordially, BuzzWeiser196 (talk) 12:01, 8 August 2021 (UTC)

Book
to listen now 122.108.126.245 (talk) 00:48, 13 October 2022 (UTC)