The Essential Frank Norris: the Octopus, a Story of California: the Pit, a Story of Chicago: Mcteague, a Story of San Francisco

Publisher Marketing: Collected in one omnibus edition are Frank Norris' three most important novels: The Octopus and its sequel The Pit, as well as McTeague. The Octopus: A Story of California is a story of cooperate greed, power, and abuse. A group of wheat farmers agree to work a railway company's land in exchange for assurances that after a ten year period they will be able to purchase the land at a reasonable price. When it comes time for the purchase of the land the railway company decides to go back on its promise and brings all of their power to bear against the farmers in a deceitful and bloody confrontation. Inspired by Southern Pacific Railroad's action in the Mussel Slough Tragedy. The Pit: a Story of Chicago is a story about corruption, greed, and redemption. Curtis Jadwin a rich and powerful capitalist decides to corner the market on wheat ignoring the misery and pain that this attempt will bring on those who need the crop to survive. Ultimately he has no idea how much this attempt will cost him and what it will take to find redemption. McTeague: A Story of San Francisco is a novel about love, obsession, murder, and greed. McTeague a young dentist becomes obsessed with Trina, one of his patients. The pair eventually marry and descend together into depravity and moral decay. A powerful harrowing book. Contributor Bio:  Norris, Frank Frank Norris was an American author who wrote primarily in the naturalist genre, focusing on the impact of corruption and turn-of-the-century capitalism on common people. Best known for his novel McTeague and for the first two parts of his unfinished The Epic of the Wheat trilogy--The Octopus: A Story of California and The Pit, Norris wrote prolifically during his lifetime. Following his education at the Acad?mie Julian in Paris, University of California, Berkeley, and at Harvard University, Norris worked as a news correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, and covered the Spanish-American War in Cuba for McClure's Magazine. Norris died suddenly in 1902 of peritonitis, leaving The Wolf: A Story of Empire, the final part of his Wheat trilogy, incomplete.