Maggie: A Girl of the Streets [Paperback]

Stephen Crane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2005

"Maggie: A Girl of the Streets", Stephen Crane's first novel, is the story of a beautiful young girl living in the slums of New York in the late 19th Century. "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets" is a shockingly explicit portrait of the brutal conditions that existed in the poverty-stricken slums of New York. Originally refused by all publishers that it was submitted to because of its brutal and sexual realism, "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets" was first published by Stephen Crane at his own expense.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Crane (1871–1900) was active as a reporter around the world in addition to being an acclaimed novelist.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 92 pages
• Publisher: Digireads.com (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420925245
• ISBN-13: 978-1420925241
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #637,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Crane, Stephen

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic; very sad, July 7, 2007

By 

kelsie - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Signet classics) (Paperback)

Of all his works--'The Red Badge of Courage' included--Stephen Crane loved most his 'Maggie,' and for good reason.

'Maggie' is the tale of an inevitable fall from grace on the part of a young, innocent girl trapped in the vicious world of New York City's slums. Yearning for acceptance and love, beaten at home by alcoholic parents, Maggie sets out with Pete, a local bartender whose "cultured" mannerisms elicit great respect from the impressionable young girl. However, when Pete spurns her for another, Maggie is ejected out onto the street, forced into prostitution to make a living. We last see her moving off, a huge, oily fat man in tow, for a darkened corner in the city's seedy underworld.

If Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle' is a torrent of social anger and protest, Crane's 'Maggie' is like a brilliant lightning strike, flashing across our vision and leaving us temporarily blinded. The book--scarcely 70 pages--is succint, brutish, and merciless. Crane allows his readers to form their own opinions regarding the characters. His innovative use of near-phonetic spelling to depict in the reader's ear the local dialect of New York's rough neighborhoods was shocking and difficult to comprehend when the book was first released. It lends "Maggie" an air of earthy legitimacy.

Ultimately, "Maggie" is a cry for the plight of poor children--the souls we overlook with a callous unease mirrored in Pete's offhand, uncaring rejection of young Maggie's genuine love and affection. It is, without qualification, Stephen Crane's greatest and most moving achievement.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sad but true, September 6, 2008

By 

leslie Grant - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Paperback)

This book is a very fast read. it's a small book and also one that is hard to put down. It tells a story that is historical 19th century American(New York). A typical slum(immigrant) family. It's Brutal, shocking and sad. One you will think about for a long while after you read it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maggie:Girl of the Streets, October 25, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Paperback)

The literary element that I chose to write about was conflict. The book is about a brother and a sister who grew up in a very poor part of New York. They did have a younger brother but he died. Maggie and Jimmies (the brother) parents were both abusive drunks. They were always telling each other to go to hell, always fighting, hitting, breaking furniture, and passing out on the floor. Their dad eventually dies and the mother lives. Jimmie and Maggie both get jobs. Jimmie ends up with a negative outlook on life and acts just as he was raised, but maybe a little bit soberer. Maggie on the other hand didn't seem to end up like Jimmie. She knew her life was crappie that she lived in a crappie place, her mother was a very big drunk but yet she seemed unfazed, infact Maggie turned into quiet a looker. So some of her conflicts started when she was young, but the got even worse when she met her brother's friend Pete. Pete was sort of like Maggie's brother, but maybe in my opinion a little more stupid and cockier. And to Maggie he was the classiest person she knew, even though in reality he really wasn't, so maybe Maggie really didn't understand what classy was. Pete took Maggie out a few times on dates and she was crazy about him and he seemed to be some what amused by her too for the minute. One day Maggie and Pete had came home after Maggie's mother had just finished a drunken fight with Jimmie and then her mother turned on her and basically suggested that she was a slut or a "fallen woman" and told her to leave and she was never welcomed again. Maggie ended up living with Pete and things were ok for a while, but he ended up tired with her anyways. Maggie did try to move back in but Jimmie and her mother had felt like she was a fallen woman, so to keep her going from time to time she ended up prostituting an d eventually killed her self when her Maggie's mom hered about Maggie's death she said she forgave her.