The Magnificent Ambersons

Written by Booth Tarkington

Narrated by jeannie

“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. It is set in a fictional Mid-Western town, between the end of the Civil War and the early part of the 20th century, a period of rapid industrialisation and socio-economic change. The decline of the Ambersons is contrasted with the rising fortunes of industrial tycoons and other new-money, self-made families.

Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) was an American novelist and dramatist. Originally from Indianapolis, he attended both Purdue University and Princeton, as well as getting an honorary doctorate from Columbia. His family was well-off, though they lost some of their wealth in the Panic of 1873 (the Great Depression).

He won the Pulitzer Prize twice, for “The Magnificent Ambersons” (1918) and “Alice Adams” (1921), making him one of only three to win it more than once, putting him alongside William Faulkner and John Updike. Whilst he is less known today, he was considered to be America's greatest living author during the early 20th century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Release date: Jan 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9788726472202

Booth Tarkington

Booth Tarkington (1869 - 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist, known for most of his career as “The Midwesterner.” Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Tarkington was a personable and charming student who studied at both Purdue and Princeton University. Earning no degrees, the young author cemented his memory and place in the society of higher education on his popularity alone—being familiar with several clubs, the college theater and voted “most popular” in the class of 1893. His writing career began just six years later with his debut novel, The Gentleman from Indiana and from there, Tarkington would enjoy two decades of critical and commercial acclaim. Coming to be known for his romanticized and picturesque depiction of the Midwest, he would become one of only four authors to win the Pulitzer Prize more than once for The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) and Alice Adams (1921), at one point being considered America’s greatest living author, comparable only to Mark Twain. While in the later half of the twentieth century Tarkington’s work fell into obscurity, it is undeniable that at the height of his career, Tarkington’s literary work and reputation were untouchable.