Anthony Adverse is a 1933 novel by American author Hervey Allen. It was published by Farrar & Rinehart.[2]
_-_Book_Cover.png) Original book cover | |
| Author | Hervey Allen |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Published | 1933[1] |
| Publisher | Farrar & Rinehart |
| Pages | 1272 |
The novel contains three volumes: The Roots of the Tree, The Other Bronze Boy and The Lonely Twin, and each volume contains three "books", making for nine books in total.[3]
Plot
editThe story follows the eponymous protagonist, Anthony Adverse, through several adventures around the world. This includes slave trading in Africa, his business dealings as a plantation owner in New Orleans, and his incarceration and eventual death in Mexico.[1]
Reception
editFanny Butcher of the Chicago Daily Tribune and Peter Monro Jack of The New York Times both gave the novel glowing reviews. Butcher wrote: "It is a thriller de luxe, but it is more than a melodrama of the most intricate happenings. It is the fantastic tale of a fantastic period, and it is the highest expression of the art of the picaresque which our generation has offered."[2] Similarly, Jack wrote: "Anthony Adverse is essentially a story and a very great story, but it gathers up so much wit and wisdom by the way that Mr. Allen is revealed on every page as that rare thing nowadays, a creative humanist [...] We should not be surprised and we could not be anything but pleased if his Anthony Adverse became the best-loved book of our time."[4]
The novel was the Publishers Weekly best-selling novel in the United States for two consecutive years: 1933 and 1934.[5]
Film adaptation
editIn 1936, the book received a loose movie adaptation, drawing from the first eight books.[citation needed]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Anthony Adverse | novel by Allen | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ a b Butcher, Fanny (June 28, 1933). "Critic Receives 'A Great Novel' with Acclaim". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
- ^ Anthony Adverse table of contents
- ^ Jack, Peter Monro (June 25, 1933). "A Titanic Novel of Adventure". The New York Times. p. BR1. ProQuest 100666298. Retrieved November 20, 2022 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Hackett, Alice Payne and Burke, James Henry (1977). 80 Years of Bestsellers: 1895–1975. New York: R. R. Bowker Company. pp. 109–127. ISBN 0-8352-0908-3.
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