Book dossier

A Traveler at Forty

by Theodore Dreiser, William J. Glackens

"After spending five months in Europe in 1911-1912, Dreiser wrote a detailed account of his travels that, despite his objections, was eviscerated to suit contemporary notions of taste and discretion. His editors insisted on drastic cuts, dropping over forty chapters and diluting many others. The truncated text was published in 1913." "The excised portions consisted of autobiographical reminiscences, philosophical speculations, revealing portraits of prominent figures, accounts of Dreiser's relationships with women, and his careful observations of lower class urban life. Working with the unabridged text of a later typescript, the magazine articles based on this trip, and Dreiser's travel diary and correspondence, Renate von Bardeleben has been able to restore the book in full. The newly edited text is based on a typescript that Dreiser himself had prepared from his holograph to preserve it for future publication." "This generously annotated edition reveals Dreiser's multiple motives in going to Europe : to cultivate his reputation in England, to search for authentic material for his Cowperwood trilogy, to educate himself in European art and history, to pursue his romantic interests, and to explore his ancestral roots in Germany. The 1913 text is about places; the fuller text is about Dreiser himself."--BOOK JACKET.