The Pit: A Story of Chicago [Paperback]

Frank Norris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

But Laura, preoccupied with looking for the Cresslers, hardly listened. Aunt Wess', whose count was confused by all these figures murmured just behind her, began over again, her lips silently forming the words, "sixty-one, sixty-two, and two is sixty-four." Behind them the voice continued....

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frank Norris (1870-1902), an American novelist and journalist, born in Chicago, Illinois. An avid reader of Emile Zola and Edgar Allan Poe, most of his works belong to the naturalist genre. As a reporter, he wrote about the Boer War and the other conflicts of South Africa, as well as the upheavals in Cuba. Although he never voiced his socialist views, they are reflected in his fictional works. He continued his career as a journalist while writing fiction frequently and was successful in both pursuits. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419177621
• ISBN-13: 978-1419177620
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,451,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical Novel on Chicago, September 17, 2001

By 

mchenryed - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pit: A Story of Chicago (Hardcover)

The Pit is a story about the Chicago Wheat market during the early 1900's. Norris writes a historical / romance book in which Laura Dearborn finds herself in Chicago from Boston. Almost immediately, she is beset by a variety of suitors. However, she is most taken by Curtis Jadwin, a sophisticated businessman who is influential on the Chicago Board of Trade.

After marrying Laura, the conservative speculator, after making a nice profit on the wheat market, becomes obsessive over controlling it. As the story unfolds, his wealth grows in a short period of time and for a while he captures the market. Ultimately, though, the market corrects itself and he must save his fortune as well as his wife, Laura, whose love begins to flee from lack of attention from Jadwin.

I found this book very slow at the beginning. However, once the market traps Jadwin, the book becomes exciting and the pages fly by. Laura is a realistic character, although I didn't have a lot of sympathy for her - she come off rather spoiled and hapless. Norris's point about the addictiveness of speculating on wheat futures and the power that it has over the rest of the world is evident. A solid book and worth reading by those who like that period of time or are interested in Chicago's history.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For love of money . . ., April 24, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pit: A Story of Chicago (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) (Paperback)

The second novel in an unfinished trilogy (THE OCTOPUS was the initial volume), it's the story of how a man's ruthless business ambitions drive a wedge between himself and the love of his wife. Curtis Jadwin speculates in the Chicago wheat market; his successes propel him into wanting to "corner the market," which he proceeds to do. In the wake of all that "desire of the moth for the star," as Shelley put it, is the detritus of ruined men committing suicide, failed health, and Jadwin's own crumbling marriage due to neglect. Indeed, his wife Laura almost succumbs to the attentions of another man, Sheldon Corthell, but is brought back to her husband's side when he becomes ill. The scenes with Laura are the least successful because they are the most melodramatic. Norris felt the need, of course, to put things on an even keel again before the story's close; thus Jadwin loses all his money on a poor gamble regarding a banner wheat harvest that sends the market reeling, which brings on his illness and the loyal Laura. All's well that ends well, as the couple head West to start a new, though financially poorer, life (in 1903 it was still possible to do that). Norris is at his best in the wheeling and dealing that occurs in the Chicago exchange: the writing there is exciting and crisp. This tale of greed vs. marital love is a good one, though not as powerful as THE OCTOPUS.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Timely Treatise on Greed, July 17, 2009

By 

Graceann Macleod "Books Fuel My Life" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pit: A Story Of Chicago (Paperback)

Except for the language and gender roles, which date this book from its publication in 1902, The Pit could have been written about any form of speculation to which greedy executives have succumbed. The Pit happens to be about the speculation in wheat at the turn of the last century, which is appropriate given the agrarian nature of the American economy at that time. However, you could exchange any number of commodities for wheat in this story - oil, mortgages, stocks, dot-coms, and you would see the very timely similarities.

Curtis Ladwin is a man who already has more money than he could ever use or need, but he's addicted to the art of the deal, and thrill of thinking two steps ahead of his competitors. To the detriment of his health, his family and his finances, he continues to chase long after the tide has turned. "I haven't cornered the wheat. The wheat has cornered me."

Frank Norris is one of my favorite novelists from this time period because his stories are still amazingly readable and relevant. Some authors from the early 1900s are almost impossible to read now, so ridden are their books with linguistic acrobatics. Aside from some melodramatic histrionics in the domestic scenes, the language that Norris uses is remarkably plain-spoken and contemporary in feel.

I've only reduced the book from five stars to four because I believe it is melodramatic in the domestic scenes. I understand that these over-the-top dramatics are commonplace in novels from this period, but I have seen domestic scenes of this type written better, and I know that Frank Norris was capable of a lighter touch.