The Disinherited: A Novel of the 1930s

by Jack Conroy, Douglas Wixson (Introduction)

Douglas Wixson's introduction to this new edition of Conroy's classic provides biographical information on the aspects of Conroy's life that influenced his writings, explores the socialist movement of the 1930s, and examines the critical reaction to the novel, showing why The Disinherited has endured both as historical document and as fiction.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

296 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1979

Reviews

[Brice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the Depression, written at the time! Think Steinbeck's _Grapes of Wrath_, only better!

[J.K. George · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of our members, a distinguished academic, wrote the Introduction and selected the book for our reading. This is a bleak look of the 1930's, accurate and discouraging in this time of plenty. It could happen again.

[Leslie Reiber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative bit of "proletariat literature". Focuses more on the Depression's impact on American industrial workers that on the agricultural class than the "classics" of this genre did (Think Steinbeck).

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flat characters....zero voice....glad I’m not still reading it...
Three stars for being radical....but it’s not Steinbeck, nor Zola....

[Susan Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

🖋️ I enjoyed this required reading for a college course I took.
✿▬✿✿▬✿

[Marilynn Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working class heroes are few and far between. This was a story of the 1930s which rang very true. Very glad I was led to the book and read it.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite things I have ever read. I devoured it. I hope that it might gain more notoriety and reach a widespread audience.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant stuff. Real American literature.

[Aketzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written. Excellentdescriptive prose. The story itself was a plod through misery, but that's kind of the point, I guess, being as how it's about the Depression. Not at all an exciting story, but an eye-opening, heart-turning one, and the excellent writing made it enjoyable to read despite the drudgery of Donovan's life.

[Riki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this novel only because it was assigned reading for class and have to admit that I had a hard time getting into it. The Disinherited is the story of Larry Donovan and his life in the 1930's. The novel
begins with him as a child growing up with a father working in the coal mines and follows him through life jumping from job to job, always just one step ahead of starvation. I was never able to really connect with the story or the characters and had a hard time getting through the book. It reads almost text-like at times, with a lot of factual information peppered in the story. I wouldn’t recommend this book.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A minor classic of 1920/30's radical literature, it was written by a native son of, and is set in, Moberly, Mo.