His Own People (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

By Booth Tarkington

Tarkington leaves behind the American Midwest, his customary fictional territory, in this 1907 novel about a young American, Robert Russ Mellin, who sets off for Europe, where he reinvents himself as a man of wealth and culture. He succeeds well enough to capture the attention of a beautiful French woman, the Comtesse de Vaurigard—and launch himself into a rarefied and decidedly unfamiliar realm.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Mar 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781411436923

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.