Download Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister PDF Free - Full Version
Download Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister by James A. Butler in PDF format completely FREE. No registration required, no payment needed. Get instant access to this valuable resource on PDFdrive.to!
About Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister
Owen Wister is known to most Americans as the creator of the heroic cowboy in The Virginian (1902). Despite his success as a Western novelist, Wister’s failure to write about his native city of Philadelphia has been lamented by many for the loss of a literary and “might-have-been. and ” If only, sighed Wister’s contemporary Elizabeth Robins Pennell in 1914, the novelist could understand that Philadelphia was as good a subject as the Wild West. Hence the surprise when James Butler uncovered a substantial fragment of a Philadelphia novel, which Wister intended to call Romney . Here, published for the first time, is the complete fragment of Romney together with two of his other unpublished Philadelphia works. Even in its incomplete state-nearly fifty thousand words- Romney is Wister’s longest piece of fiction after The Virginian and Lady Baltimore . Writing at the express command of his friend Theodore Roosevelt, Wister set Romney in Philadelphia (called Monopolis in the novel) during the 1880s, when, as he saw it, the city was passing from the old to a new order. The hero of the story, Romney, is a man of and “no social position and ” who nonetheless rises to the top because he has superior ability. It is thus a novel about the possibilities for meaningful social change in a democracy. Although, alas, the story breaks off before the birth of Romney, Wister gives us much to savor in the existing thirteen chapters. We are treated to delightful scenes at the Bryn Mawr train station, the Bellevue Hotel, and Independence Square, which yield brilliant insights into life on the Main Line, the power of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the insidious effects of political corruption. Wister’s acute analysis in Romney of what differentiates Philadelphia and Boston upper classes is remarkably similar to, but anticipates by more than half a century, the classic study by E. Digby Baltzell in Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia (1979). Like Baltzell, Wister analyzes the urban aristocracy of Boston and Philadelphia, finding in Boston a Puritan drive for achievement and civic service but in Philadelphia a Quaker preference for toleration and moderation, all too often leading to acquiescence and stagnation. Romney is undoubtedly the best fictional portrayal of and “Gilded Age and ” Philadelphia, brilliantly capturing Wister’s vision of old-money, aristocratic society gasping its last before the onrushing vulgarity of the nouveaux riches. It is a novel of manners that does for Philadelphia what Edith Wharton and John Marquand have done for New York and Boston.
Detailed Information
| Author: | James A. Butler |
|---|---|
| Publication Year: | 2001 |
| ISBN: | 9780271021218 |
| Pages: | 311 |
| Language: | English |
| File Size: | 6.4 |
| Format: | |
| Price: | FREE |
Safe & Secure Download - No registration required
Why Choose PDFdrive for Your Free Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister Download?
- 100% Free: No hidden fees or subscriptions required for one book every day.
- No Registration: Immediate access is available without creating accounts for one book every day.
- Safe and Secure: Clean downloads without malware or viruses
- Multiple Formats: PDF, MOBI, Mpub,... optimized for all devices
- Educational Resource: Supporting knowledge sharing and learning
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it really free to download Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister PDF?
Yes, on https://PDFdrive.to you can download Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister by James A. Butler completely free. We don't require any payment, subscription, or registration to access this PDF file. For 3 books every day.
How can I read Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister on my mobile device?
After downloading Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister PDF, you can open it with any PDF reader app on your phone or tablet. We recommend using Adobe Acrobat Reader, Apple Books, or Google Play Books for the best reading experience.
Is this the full version of Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister?
Yes, this is the complete PDF version of Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister by James A. Butler. You will be able to read the entire content as in the printed version without missing any pages.
Is it legal to download Romney: And Other New Works About Philadelphia By Owen Wister PDF for free?
https://PDFdrive.to provides links to free educational resources available online. We do not store any files on our servers. Please be aware of copyright laws in your country before downloading.
The materials shared are intended for research, educational, and personal use in accordance with fair use principles.
