Other editions of book The Financier

[This is the Audiobook CD Library Edition in vinyl case.] [Read by Geoffrey Blaisdell] A master of literary naturalism, Dreiser is known for his great intensity and keen journalistic eye as he examines real-life subjects. This powerful novel explores the dynamics of the financial world during the Civil War and after the stock-market panic caused by the Great Chicago Fire. The first in a ''trilogy of desire,'' The Financier tells the story of the ruthlessly dominating broker Frank Cowperwood as he climbs the ladder of success, his adoring mistress championing his every move. Based on the life of financier C. T. Yerkes, Dreiser's cutting portrayal of the corrupt magnate Cowperwood illustrates the idea that wealth is often obtained by less than reputable means.

This new novel by Mr. Dreiser is a drama of the lust for wealth, and almost, one might say—the lust for love. In the form of fiction the story shows a vivid panorama of American life in its more material aspects. It is a great book in its scope and power—broader and deeper than anything which Mr. Dreiser has done. It is more vital than “Sister Carrie.” and more vigorous than “Jennie Gerhardt.” In its bigness, its insight into large phases of the evolution of American life, its portrayal of the fight for gold and power and the love of women, this novel is certain to be ranked as one of the great examples of modern fiction. Theodore Dreiser is the one novelist who has his finger upon the pulse of our national life. He writes about social phases which are typically American and which ca be found only in America, superimposing a charm of style upon the thrill of narrative. Business, the breeding of money, the building up of vast fortunes, the imperial power with which wealth endowes the unscrupulous financier who has the cunning to acquire it - all those desires which may be summed up in the phrase "the lust for success," contribute to the bigness and boldness of the continental landscape which he portrays. Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (1871–1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).

Acclaimed American journalist and fiction writer penned a number of noteworthy classics in his day, including Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy. His 1912 novel The Financier was the first in a trilogy of works following the life and career of Frank Cowperwood, a Philadelphia-born entrepreneur whose rising fortunes and intermittent disasters are emblematic of many of those who populated nineteenth-century America