The Making of Americans (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Gertrude Stein
- First Published: 1925
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Satire
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth century
- Setting: Oakland, California, and Baltimore, Maryland
- Principal Characters: David Hersland (the elder), Martha Hersland, Alfred Hersland, David Hersland (the younger), Henry Dehning, Mrs. Dehning, Julia Dehning, Bertha Dehning, George Simon Dehning, Hortense Dehning
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Impressionistic literature, Autobiographical fiction, Satire
- Subjects: Family or family life, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, Marriage, Class consciousness, American Dream, California, West, U.S., Ethnic groups, Ethnic relations, Business or business people, Ambition, Existentialism
- Locales: Baltimore, MD, Bridgepoint (fictive), Gossols (fictive)
Form and Content
The Making of Americans: Being a History of a Family’s Progress resists literary classification. While some critics regard it as a novel, it may be better characterized as a daybook, containing literary sketches, reflections, and, frequently, a running commentary on the text’s own writing. The Making of Americans is the volume Gertrude Stein claimed had begun modern writing. This piece, some 550,000 words and 925 pages in its unabridged form, represents nearly eight years of work by Stein (1902-1911). Portions of the text, about 150 pages...
[The entire page is 2391 words long]
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