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William Dean Howells' richly humorous characterization of a self-made millionaire in Boston society provides a paradigm of American culture in the Gilded Age. After establishing a fortune in the paint business, Silas Lapham moves his family from their Vermont farm to the city... Read Full Overview

"In a time of financial and political anxiety, Paul Petrie has reestablished the power of one of the great realist novels of business and ethics. This new edition of The Rise of Silas Lapham deserves to be read and reread for the messages it can deliver about our own morality."
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WHEN Bartley Hubbard went to interview Silas Lapham for the "Solid Men of Boston" series, which he undertook to finish up in The Events, after he replaced their original projector on that newspaper, Lapham received him in his private office by previous appointment. "Walk right... Read Full Overview

The Rise of Silas Lapham is a realist novel by William Dean Howells published in 1885. The story follows the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. Silas earns a fortune in the paint business, but he lacks social standards,... Read Full Overview

Extensive historical annotations have been added to the text of this Norton Critical Edition. The process of composition is followed through Howells' initial sketches and letters. Analysis of the contemporary stereotypes and myths that Howells parodied in his novel is provided... Read Full Overview

William Dean Howells' richly humorous characterization of a self-made millionaire in Boston society provides a paradigm of American culture in the Gilded Age. After establishing a fortune in the paint business, Silas Lapham moves his family from their Vermont farm to the city... Read Full Overview

The Rise of Silas Lapham is a realist novel by William Dean Howells published in 1885. The story follows the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility.

The Rise of Silas Lapham was the first important novel to center on the American businessman and the first to treat its theme with a realism that foreshadowed the work of modern writers. In his story of one of the millionaire industrialists who flourished in the post-Civil War... Read Full Overview

This edition of The Rise of Silas Lapham reprints the text established by Walter J. Meserve and David J. Nordloh for A Selected Edition of W. D. Howells.

WHEN Bartley Hubbard went to interview Silas Lapham for the "Solid Men of Boston" series, which he undertook to finish up in The Events, after he replaced their original projector on that newspaper, Lapham received him in his private office by previous appointment. "Walk right... Read Full Overview

The Rise of Silas Lapham is a realist novel by William Dean Howells published in 1885. The story follows the materialistic rise of Silas Lapham from rags to riches, and his ensuing moral susceptibility. Silas earns a fortune in the paint business, but he lacks social standards,... Read Full Overview

"The Rise of Silas Lapham" is William Dean Howells' 1885 novel which tells the story of its title character, who inherits his father's paint business and subsequently makes a great deal of money. Silas moves his family from their home in rural Vermont to Boston in order to... Read Full Overview

It is certain that our manners and customs go far more in life than our qualities. The price that we pay for civilization is the fine yet impassable differentiation of these.Silas Lapham is a rough-hewn entrepreneur who has made his fortune in mineral paint. Socially ambitious... Read Full Overview

&&LIThe Rise of Silas Lapham&&L/I, by&&LB William Dean Howells&&L/B, is part of the &&LIBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&LI &&L/Iseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages... Read Full Overview

This edition of The Rise of Silas Lapham reprints the text established by Walter J. Meserve and David J. Nordloh for A Selected Edition of W. D. Howells.