Twelve Men

by Theodore Dreiser

Peter In any group of men I have ever known, speaking from the point of view of character and not that of physical appearance, Peter would stand out as deliciously and irrefutably different. In the great waste of American intellectual dreariness he was an oasis, a veritable spring in the desert. He understood life. He knew men. He was free—spiritually, morally, in a thousand ways, it seemed to me. As one drags along through this inexplicable existence one realizes how such qualities stand out; not the pseudo freedom of strong men, financially or physically, but the real, internal, spiritual freedom, where the mind, as it were, stands up and looks at itself, faces Nature unafraid, is aware of its own weaknesses, its strengths; examines its own and the creative impulses of the universe and of men with a kindly and non-dogmatic eye, in fact kicks dogma out of doors, and yet deliberately and of choice holds fast to many, many simple and human things, and rounds out life, or would, in a natural, normal, courageous, healthy way. The first time I ever saw Peter was in St. Louis in 1892; I had come down from Chicago to work on the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and he was a part of the art department force of that paper. At that time—and he never seemed to change later even so much as a hair's worth until he died in 1908—he was short, stocky and yet quick and even jerky in his manner, with a bushy, tramp-like "get-up" of hair and beard, most swiftly and astonishingly disposed of at times only to be regrown at others, and always, and intentionally, I am sure, most amusing to contemplate. In addition to all this he had an air of well-being, force and alertness which belied the other surface characteristics as anything more than a genial pose or bit of idle gayety. Plainly he took himself seriously and yet lightly, usually with an air of suppressed gayety, as though saying, "This whole business of living is a great joke." He always wore good and yet exceedingly mussy clothes, at times bespattered with ink or, worse yet, even soup—an amazing grotesquery that was the dismay of all who knew him, friends and relatives especially. In addition he was nearly always liberally besprinkled with tobacco dust, the source of which he used in all forms: in pipe, cigar and plug, even cigarettes when he could obtain nothing more substantial. One of the things about him which most impressed me at that time and later was this love of the ridiculous or the grotesque, in himself or others, which would not let him take anything in a dull or conventional mood, would not even permit him to appear normal at times but urged him on to all sorts of nonsense, in an effort, I suppose, to entertain himself and make life seem less commonplace

Genres: Classics, Biography, Nonfiction, American

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

Naturalistic novels of American writer and editor Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser portray life as a struggle against ungovernable forces. Value of his portrayed characters lies in their persistence against all obstacles, not their moral code, and literary situations more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency; this American novelist and journalist so pioneered the naturalist school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore...

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

One reviewer said that all the characters in this book are "disciple-like do-gooders". I can only assume that he did not finish the book. If its ok here, let me quote the University of Pennsylvania website on this book http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/5..., "The men profiled in Twelve Men are a diverse and colorful group: from Dreiser's equally famous brother, the songwriter Paul Dresser ("My Brother Paul"), to the entirely obscure railroad foreman Michael Burke ("The Mighty Rourke"), on whose work crew Dreiser had labored in 1903. The twelve narratives are compelling portraits of the men portrayed, but they also reveal many insights into Dreiser's own life and work." And many insights into life in the early 20th century and the many different types of men, honest and not so much, kind and not so much, lucky and not that much, who were around at the time.

[Babs M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. I am so fascinated by the era in which he lived. It was very interesting to read about this twelve men in his live that he felt worth writing about. Tells you something of the times and the people.

[gss · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Twelve men by Dreiser shows the extraordinary qualities in ordinary characters and their struggle to pursue their ideals and goals facing many hurdles in their lives. The author sounds sometimes verbose but the effect is sustained throughout these character sketches. Many of the characters are shown as dead probably to elicit more sympathy and to show how they struggled till their end. The style is very apt matching with characters and circumstances. It would have been better if the descriptive and conversational parts are made a little brief.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

"We toil so much, we dream so richly, we hasten so fast, and lo! the green door is opened. We are through it, and its grassy surface ha sealed us forever from all which apparently we so much crave -
even as, breathlessly we are still running." (from W.L.S.)k

"Peace, peace. So shall it soon be with all of us. It was a dream. It is. I am. You are. And shall we grieve over or hark back to dreams?" (from My Brother Paul)
- Theodore Dreiser, Twelve Men

poignancy and pathos

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A long slog. Dreiser is brutally long winded at times. You can see the origins for characters from some of his major works in some of the sketches. Also I’m a bit dubious as to their actual existence given that so many of them die at the end. I liked it overall

[Stephan Ferreira · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Twelve Men" is 12 unrelated character sketches that are supposed to be Dreiser's ideal man, and ultimately, a portrait of himself. Which is to say generous, pious and totally boring. The men in these stories are all painted to be disciple-like do-gooders. Were all people like this in 1909? There were a few good observations on people. The only interesting sketch was of the character who, seeming human at all, had a temper and was unforgiving.

[Valentyna Zelena · Rating 2 out of 5]

i expected so much more from Theodore Dreiser. He is one of my favorite writers, so I was much excited about this book as well. It turned out to be a long and pretty boring read for me. The characters are all flat and very much alike. Maybe they each played a big role in writer's life, but reading about them was not fascinating. They all seemed so similarly good that it seems unrealistic. Oh, and also just after finishing reading I cannot remember any one separately and clearly...