"The Rise of Silas Lapham," by William Dean Howells, is
part of the "Barnes & Noble Classics""
"series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to
the student and the general reader, including new scholarship,
thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are
some of the remarkable features of "Barnes & Noble
Classics": New introductions commissioned from today's top
writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of
contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations,
parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and
films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study
questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when
appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to
superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical
interest. "Barnes & Noble Classics "pulls together a
constellation of influences-biographical, historical, and
literary-to enrich each reader's understanding of these
enduring works. After the Civil War, rapid industrialization
created a new crop of American multimillionaires. Although as
wealthy as the "aristocrats" of Boston and New York, the
"nouveaux riches "were rejected by those arrogant
guardians of traditional society because of their
"uneducated" tastes and uncouth styles. This class
conflict is at the core of "The Rise of Silas Lapham,"
one of the first American novels of manners, one of the first to
look at the American businessman and self-made millionaire, and one
of the first to employ realism-a style that would come todominate
twentieth-century American fiction. A devoted husband and father,
fairly decent employer, and mostly honest businessman, Silas Lapham
has used his father's small paint company to amass a large
fortune. But he yearns to "enter society" and for his two
daughters, Penelope and Irene, to marry well. However, blue-blooded
Tom Corey's love for one of the Lapham daughters is thwarted by
his mother, who believes Penelope is an overly independent social
climber. Meanwhile, Silas's efforts to be accepted by the
Boston Brahmins lead him into dangerous financial waters that
threaten to drown his business and swallow his family. Morris
Dickstein is Distinguished Professor of English at the Graduate
Center of the City University of New York and a senior fellow of
the Center for the Humanities, which he founded. His latest book is
a collection of essays, "A Mirror in the Roadway: Literature
and the Real World," He is completing a cultural history of
the United States in the 1930s.
