Frank's Fans (11)

Frank Norris

Author profile

born

March 05, 1870 in Chicago, Illinois, The United States

died

October 25, 1902

gender

male

genre

Literature & Fiction

influences

Thomas Henry Huxley, Joseph LeConte

About this author

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Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. was an American novelist, during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague (1899), The Octopus: A California Story (1901), and The Pit (1903). Although he did not openly support socialism as a political system, his work nevertheless evinces a socialist mentality and influenced socialist/progressive writers such as Upton Sinclair. Like many of his contemporaries, he was profoundly influenced by the advent of Darwinism, and Thomas Henry Huxley's philosophical defense of it. Norris was particularly influenced by an optimistic strand of Darwinist philosophy taught by Joseph LeConte, whom Norris studied under while at the University of California, Berkeley...more

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Books by Frank Norris

Average rating: 3.64 · 2,572 ratings · 340 reviews · 65 distinct works

	McTeague by Frank Norris, Eric Solomon (Introduction) 3.59 avg rating — 1,724 ratings — published 1899 — 103 editions	My rating:
	The Octopus: A Story of California by Frank Norris, Kevin Starr (Introduction) 3.76 avg rating — 512 ratings — published 1901 — 58 editions	My rating:
	The Pit: A Story of Chicago 3.85 avg rating — 110 ratings — published 1903 — 43 editions	My rating:
	Vandover and the Brute 3.72 avg rating — 43 ratings — published 1914 — 15 editions	My rating:
	Norris: Novels and Essays by Frank Norris, Donald Pizer (Editor) 3.71 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1986 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Blix 3.62 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 1899 — 20 editions	My rating:
	A Deal in Wheat 3.22 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 1970 — 11 editions	My rating:
	Works of Frank Norris 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	My rating:
	The Essential Frank Norris: The Octopus, a Story of California: The Pit, a Story of Chicago: McTeague, a Story of San Francisco 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2010	My rating:
	At Last To Kiss Amanda (Dell 4 Digit, 0344) 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	My rating:

More books by Frank Norris…

Series by Frank Norris

The Epic of the Wheat (2 books)
by Frank Norris

3.78 avg rating — 622 ratings

Quotes by Frank Norris

“Always blame conditions, not men”
― Frank Norris, The Octopus: A Story of California

2 people liked it

“If I were to name the one crying evil of American life, Mr. Derrick, it would be the indifference of the better people to public affairs. It is so in all our great centres. There are other great trusts, God knows, in the United States besides our own dear P. and S.W. Railroad. Every state has its own grievance. If it is not a railroad trust, it is a sugar trust, or an oil trust, or an industrial trust, that exploits the People, because the people allow it. The indifference of the People is the opportunity of the despot. It is as true as that the whole is greater than the part, and the maxim is so old that it is trite - it is laughable. It is neglected and disused for the sake of some new ingenious and complicated theory, some wonderful scheme of reorganization, the fact remains, nevertheless, simple, fundamental, everlasting. The People have but to say 'No' and not the strongest tyranny, political, religious, or financial, that was ever organized, could survive one week.”
― Frank Norris, The Octopus: A Story of California

2 people liked it

“Believe this, young man," exclaimed Shelgrim, layinga thick powerful forefinger on the table to emphasize his words, "try to believe this - to begin with - that railroads build themselves. Where there is a demand sooner or later there will be a supply. Mr. Derrick, does he grow his wheat? The Wheat grows itself. What does he count for? Does he supply the force? What do I count for? Do I build the Railroad? You are dealing with forces, young man, when you speak of Wheat and the Railroads, not with men. There is the Wheat, the supply. It must be carried to feed the People. There is the demand. The Wheat is one force, the Railroad, another, and there is the law that governs them - supply and demand. Men have only little to do in the whole business. Complications may arise, conditions that bear hard on the individual - crush him maybe - but the Wheat will be carried to feed the people as inevitably as it will grow. If you want to fasten the blame of the affair at Los Muertos on any one person, you will make a mistake. Blame conditions, not men.”
― Frank Norris, The Octopus: A Story of California

1 person liked it

See all Frank Norris's quotes »

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