DREISER, THEODORE

born Aug. 27, 1871, Terre Haute, Ind., U.S. died Dec. 28, 1945, Hollywood, Calif. Theodore Dreiser novelist who was the outstanding American practitioner of naturalism. He was the leading figure in a national literary movement that replaced the observance of Victorian notions of propriety with the unflinching presentation of real-life subject matter. Among other themes, his novels explore the new social problems that had arisen in a rapidly industrializing America. Additional reading Biographies include Dorothy Dudley, Forgotten Frontiers: Dreiser and the Land of the Free (1932, reprinted 1972); Robert H. Elias, Theodore Dreiser, Apostle of Nature, emended ed. (1970); W.A. Swanberg, Dreiser (1965); and Richard Lingeman, Theodore Dreiser, vol. 1, At the Gates of the City, 18711907 (1986). Comprehensive bibliographical lists can be found in Donald Pizer, Richard W. Dowell, and Frederic E. Rusch, Theodore Dreiser: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography (1975); and annually in Dreiser Studies (semiannual). Major critical studies include F.O. Matthiessen, Theodore Dreiser (1951, reissued 1973); Charles Shapiro, Theodore Dreiser: Our Bitter Patriot (1962); Philip L. Gerber, Theodore Dreiser (1964); John J. McAleer, Theodore Dreiser: An Introduction and Interpretation (1968); Ellen Moers, Two Dreisers (1969); Richard Lehan, Theodore Dreiser: His World and His Novels (1969); Robert Penn Warren, Homage to Theodore Dreiser (1971); Donald Pizer, The Novels of Theodore Dreiser (1976); James Lundquist, Theodore Dreiser (1974); Yoshinobu Hakutani, Young Dreiser: A Critical Study (1980); Lawrence E. Hussman, Dreiser and His Fiction: A Twentieth-Century Quest (1983); and Joseph Griffin, The Small Canvas: An Introduction to Dreiser's Short Stories (1985).