The Octopus

A Story of California

A Story of California

By Frank Norris
Introduction by Kevin Starr

By Frank Norris
Introduction by Kevin Starr

Part of The Epic of the Wheat

Part of The Epic of the Wheat

Best Seller
The Octopus by Frank Norris

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Paperback $18.00

Aug 01, 1994 | 688 Pages

Ebook $14.99

Aug 01, 1994 | 688 Pages

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      Aug 01, 1994 | 688 Pages

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    • Ebook $14.99

      Aug 01, 1994 | 688 Pages

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    About The Octopus

    Like the tentacles of an octopus, the tracks of the railroad reached out across California, as if to grasp everything of value in the state Based on an actual, bloody dispute between wheat farmers and the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880, The Octopus is a stunning novel of the waning days of the frontier West. To the tough-minded and self-reliant farmers, the monopolistic, land-grabbing railroad represented everything they despised: consolidation, organization, conformity. But Norris idealizes no one in this epic depiction of the volatile situation, for the farmers themselves ruthlessly exploited the land, and in their hunger for larger holdings they resorted to the same tactics used by the railroad: subversion, coercion and outright violence. In his introduction, Kevin Starr discusses Norris’s debt to Zola for the novel’s extraordinary sweep, scale and abundance of characters and details.

    About The Octopus

    Like the tentacles of an octopus, the tracks of the railroad reached out across California, as if to grasp everything of value in the state Based on an actual, bloody dispute between wheat farmers and the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880, The Octopus is a stunning novel of the waning days of the frontier West. To the tough-minded and self-reliant farmers, the monopolistic, land-grabbing railroad represented everything they despised: consolidation, organization, conformity. But Norris idealizes no one in this epic depiction of the volatile situation, for the farmers themselves ruthlessly exploited the land, and in their hunger for larger holdings they resorted to the same tactics used by the railroad: subversion, coercion and outright violence. In his introduction, Kevin Starr discusses Norris’s debt to Zola for the novel’s extraordinary sweep, scale and abundance of characters and details.

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    About Frank Norris

    Frank Norris (1870–1902) was an American journalist and novelist. Among his novels are McTeague, The Octopus: A Story of California, and The Pit. His fiction is classified under naturalism and has been compared to the works of Émile Zola, Stephen… More about Frank Norris

    About Frank Norris

    Frank Norris (1870–1902) was an American journalist and novelist. Among his novels are McTeague, The Octopus: A Story of California, and The Pit. His fiction is classified under naturalism and has been compared to the works of Émile Zola, Stephen… More about Frank Norris

    Product Details

    Paperback
    Published by Penguin Classics
    Aug 01, 1994 | 688 Pages | 5-1/16 x 7-3/4 | ISBN 9780140187700

    Ebook
    Published by Penguin Classics
    Aug 01, 1994 | 688 Pages | ISBN 9781101127483

    Also by Frank Norris

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