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A lesser-known American classic, McTeague explores the darker side of success and the pitfalls of marriage for a turn-of-the-century couple.

Contexts focuses on the novel's sources and composition. Included are newspaper accounts of a San Francisco murder; a description of Norris' Polk Street neighborhood, which figures prominently in McTeague; an examination of the relationship between the novel and naturalism; and... Read Full Overview

Contexts focuses on the novel's sources and composition. Included are newspaper accounts of a San Francisco murder; a description of Norris' Polk Street neighborhood, which figures prominently in McTeague; an examination of the relationship between the novel and naturalism; and... Read Full Overview

Although otherwise ignorant and ineffectual, McTeague has managed to eke out a meager career as an unlicensed dentist. His dreary existence rapidly improves upon meeting and marrying Trina, whose possession of a winning lottery ticket further brightens their lives. But Trina's... Read Full Overview

McTeague Frank Norris (1870 - 1902) McTeague is a simple dentist who becomes infatuated with Trina, the cousin of his friend Marcus. Trina then buys a winning lottery ticket worth $5,000, and McTeague announces his plans to marry her. But their marriage quickly falls apart as... Read Full Overview

Inspired by an actual crime that was sensationalized in the San Francisco papers, this novel tells the story of charlatan dentist McTeague and his wife Trina, and their spiralling descent into moral corruption. Norris is often considered to be the "American Zola," and this passionate... Read Full Overview

First published in 1899, this graphic depiction of urban American life centers around its title character, McTeague, a dentist practicing in San Francisco at the turn of the century. While at first content with his life and friendship with an ambitious man named Marcus, McTeague... Read Full Overview

McTeague: A Story of San Francisco is a novel about love, obsession, murder, and greed. McTeague a young dentist becomes obsessed with Trina, one of his patients. The pair eventually marry and descend together into depravity and moral decay. A powerful harrowing book.

This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare's... Read Full Overview

McTeague

Inspired by an actual crime sensationalized in the San Francisco press at the turn of the century, this riveting tale of avarice, degeneration, and death chronicles the demise of an ignorant charlatan and his avaricious wife. A compelling, realistic view of human nature at its... Read Full Overview

McTeague is a dentist of limited intellect from a poor miner's family, who has opened a dentist shop on Polk Street in San Francisco. (His first name is never revealed; other characters in the novel call him simply "Mac.") His best friend, Marcus Schouler, brings his cousin,... Read Full Overview