Art, Music, and Literature, 1897-1902

Dreiser''s captivating portraits of turn-of-the-century America''s famous figures

In this volume, liberally seasoned with period illustrations, Yoshinobu Hakutani has collected and annotated a rich selection of Theodore Dreiser''s pre-fame writings on the cultural milieu of his day.

In these brief essays, Dreiser sallies into the vibrant world of creative work in turn-of-the-century America. He inspects the eccentric and revealing paraphernalia of artists'' studios, probes the work habits of writers, and goes behind the scenes in the popular song-writing business, where this week''s celebrity is next week''s has-been. He profiles famous figures and introduces numerous women artists, novelists, and musicians, including the prolific and tireless Amelia Barr (mother of fourteen children and author of thirty-two novels), the illustrator Alice B. Stephens, and the opera singer Lillian Nordica. Hakutani''s notes provide biographical detail on dozens of now-obscure individuals mentioned by Dreiser.