The Pit (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

By Frank Norris and Donna Campbell

The story of Frank Norris's The Pit could be taken from today's headlines: a businessman begins speculating in the commodities market on a small scale until, overcome by greed, addicted to the art of the deal, and harboring an ever-increasing appetite for power, he gambles recklessly in the market while the fortunes of farmers and small investors hang in the balance. At the same time, his independent-minded young wife, bored with domesticity and feeling abused by his neglect of her, risks her marriage by contemplating an affair with a former suitor. By interweaving the conventions of the business plot and the romance plot in this manner, Frank Norris broke with the traditions of his time and brought a fresh perspective to the American novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Sep 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781411431515

Frank Norris

Frank Norris was an American author who wrote primarily in the naturalist genre, focusing on the impact of corruption and turn-of-the-century capitalism on common people. Best known for his novel McTeague and for the first two parts of his unfinished The Epic of the Wheat trilogy—The Octopus: A Story of California and The Pit, Norris wrote prolifically during his lifetime. Following his education at the Académie Julian in Paris, University of California, Berkeley, and at Harvard University, Norris worked as a news correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, and covered the Spanish-American War in Cuba for McClure’s Magazine. Norris died suddenly in 1902 of peritonitis, leaving The Wolf: A Story of Empire, the final part of his Wheat trilogy, incomplete.

Reviews for The Pit (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

[piperbill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A good solid read!

[schmerguls · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I started reading this on June 1, 1946 and on that date said: "It's terible so far." It got better, and I remember being blown away by the description of the trading on the floor. And in 1952 when I visited the grain exchange Norris' description came back to me and I saw his description was still accuarte, all those years after he wrote it!