The Conquest of Canaan
by Booth Tarkington
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What does it mean to be popular? Is it a mark of good character, or merely a sign that you're well-regarded among an influential group of elites? The hero in Booth Tarkington's tale The Conquest of Canaan has achieved a strange kind of popularity—he's seen as a prince among those who are down on their luck, but to the upper classes and the powerful, he might as well be invisible. Will Joe Loudon be able to channel his limited influence to make some much-needed changes in his community?.
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Thoroughly enjoyed this story....I suppose it is the tried and true 'good guy gets bad deal, leaves town, returns to fight the real bad guys' story, but it has some very colorful characters and the details of life in a turn of the century Indiana town are just fun to absorb. I actually laughed out loud occasionally and was also horrified at the treatment of a dog in one chapter, not to mention intrigued with the matter-of-fact racism that existed in the day. Tarkington is a little verbose sometimes in rambling sentences, but usually it was worth it if i could follow. Nothing too deep, but fun.
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109+ Works 6,582 Members
Newton Booth Tarkington was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 29, 1869. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, than spent his first two years of college at Purdue University and his last two at Princeton University. When his class graduated in 1893, he lacked sufficient credits for a degree. Upon leaving Princeton, he returned to Indiana show more determined to pursue a career as a writer. Tarkington was an early member of The Dramatic Club, founded in 1889, and often wrote plays and directed and acted in its productions. After a five-year apprenticeship full of publishers' rejection slips, Tarkington enjoyed a huge commercial success with The Gentleman from Indiana, which was published in 1899. He produced a total of 171 short stories, 21 novels, 9 novellas, and 19 plays along with a number of movie scripts, radio dramas, and even illustrations over the course of a career that lasted from 1899 until his death in 1946. His novels included Monsieur Beaucaire, The Flirt, Seventeen, Gentle Julia, and The Turmoil. He won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 1919 and 1922 for his novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams. He used the political knowledge he acquired while serving one term in the Indiana House of Representatives in the short story collection In the Arena. In collaboration with dramatist Harry Leon Wilson, Tarkington wrote The Man from Home, the first of many successful Broadway plays. He wrote children's stories in the final phase of his career. He died on May 19, 1946 after an illness. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1905
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Statistics
- Members
- 71
- Popularity
- 441,918
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.30)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 33
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 9
