Order of Booth Tarkington Books

Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) stands as one of America's most celebrated novelists, earning particular acclaim for The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams. His remarkable achievement of winning multiple Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction places him among an exclusive group of just three authors, alongside William Faulkner and John Updike. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, literary circles regarded him as America's foremost living writer.

Tarkington launched his literary career with The Gentleman From Indiana in 1899, marking the beginning of a prolific and distinguished body of work.

Among Tarkington's notable works, Seventeen captures the essence of adolescent romance during a pivotal summer. The novel follows William Baxter through his seventeenth year as he experiences the intensity of first love with Miss Lola Pratt, a visiting young woman known for her childlike speech and devotion to her dog Flopit. Meanwhile, his mischievous ten-year-old sister Jane provides constant mortification through her public antics.

Alice Adams presents the compelling story of a young woman navigating social aspirations in post-World War I Midwest. When the sophisticated Arthur Russell begins courting her, Alice becomes determined to conceal her family's modest circumstances. She and her parents concoct elaborate plans to maintain appearances and improve their standing. Despite the eventual collapse of both her romantic hopes and family schemes, Alice demonstrates remarkable resilience by embracing reality and taking on work to support her loved ones. This powerful narrative explores themes of ambition, class consciousness, and the extraordinary capacity of the human spirit to adapt and persevere.