Novels and Essays: Vandover and the Brute, McTeague, The Octopus, Essays (Library of America)

Three novels and the collected literary essays of America's most promising naturalist writer. Norris's grim and vivid studies of decadent urban society and crude rural life in northern California combine his interests in the emerging sciences of psychology and economics with a taste for exciting action and disturbing drama. Contains Vandover and the Brute, McTeague, and The Octopus, along with essays addressing literary theory, American fiction, and the social responsibilities of the artist.