Frank Norris





Frank Norris

Author profile


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

died
October 25, 1902

gender
male

genre

influences
Thomas Henry Huxley, Joseph LeConte


About this author

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


Average rating: 3.64 · 2,572 ratings · 340 reviews · 65 distinct works
McTeague
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3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 1,724 ratings — published 1899 — 103 editions
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The Octopus: A Story of Cal...
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3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 512 ratings — published 1901 — 58 editions
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The Pit: A Story of Chicago
3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 110 ratings — published 1903 — 43 editions
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Vandover and the Brute
3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 43 ratings — published 1914 — 15 editions
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Norris: Novels and Essays
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3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1986 — 2 editions
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Blix
3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 1899 — 20 editions
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A Deal in Wheat
3.22 of 5 stars 3.22 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 1970 — 11 editions
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Works of Frank Norris
4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
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The Essential Frank Norris:...
4.5 of 5 stars 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2010
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At Last To Kiss Amanda (Del...
3.0 of 5 stars 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions
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More books by Frank Norris…
The Octopus: A Story of Cal... The Pit: A Story of Chicago
The Epic of the Wheat (2 books)
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3.7765273311897105 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 622 ratings
“Always blame conditions, not men”
Frank Norris, The Octopus: A Story of California

“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

“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

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