I think that Stephen Crane was a fantastic writer, and it's pure tragedy that this book was not appreciated in the time that it was published.

The prose is beautiful, while at the same time holding some truth and tragedy within it. Crane's depiction of poor, working class (pretty much destitute) people doesn't have a moral attached to it either. The characters simply are, and that's what makes this a classic. There's nothing but themselves, in the larger context of others, with a variety of backgrounds and lives.

A must read for any fan of naturalism or American literature in general. ( )

3594. Maggie A Girl of the Streets and Other Short Fiction, by Stephen Crane (read July 3 2002) Maggie first was published in 1893 by an anonymous publisher. Looking at it as reading material I thought the slang dated and odd-sounding and the characters were all stupid-acting. One was expected to feel sorry for Maggie, who is led into an immoral life though quite innocent. Her parents are unbelievably dysfunctional and I could not get caught up in the story. There are also four shorter stories in the book, including the classic "The Open Boat" which I had read before and which is memorable. ( )

A story of a NYC working class Irish immigrant family that slides into degeneration because of alcohol and family abuse, very similar in style and content to Emile Zola's "L'Assommoir" and "Nana", but about 1/10th as long and less "pornographic" to turn of the century sensibilities. Maggie is portrayed as a "devil child" to those around her - a sign of the Gilded Age when children were not top priority - for comparison to the mood of the time, think 1970s and Stephen King's devil child "Carrie". Crane self-published the 1893 edition as a pamphlet and only after the surprise success of Red Badge of Courage was it published as a book in 1896.

Read via the Internet Archive 1896 "first" edition ( http://www.archive.org/details/maggie... ) ( )

http://www.slywy.com/bookreviews/ny-m... ( )

Didn't like it when I had to read it for school, but that was a while ago so I give it 3 stars for now...untill I can read again and reevaluate. ( )