The Octopus : A Story of California
by Frank Norris
- Used
- Good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Good
- ISBN 10
- 0451524527
- ISBN 13
- 9780451524522
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Like the tentacles of an octopus, the tracks of the railroad reached out across California, as if to grasp everything of value in the state Based on an actual, bloody dispute between wheat farmers and the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880, The Octopus is a stunning novel of the waning days of the frontier West. To the tough-minded and self-reliant farmers, the monopolistic, land-grabbing railroad represented everything they despised: consolidation, organization, conformity. But Norris idealizes no one in this epic depiction of the volatile situation, for the farmers themselves ruthlessly exploited the land, and in their hunger for larger holdings they resorted to the same tactics used by the railroad: subversion, coercion and outright violence. In his introduction, Kevin Starr discusses Norris's debt to Zola for the novel's extraordinary sweep, scale and abundance of characters and details.
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Details
- Bookseller
- ThriftBooks (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- G0451524527I3N00
- Title
- The Octopus : A Story of California
- Author
- Frank Norris
- Format/Binding
- Mass Market Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0451524527
- ISBN 13
- 9780451524522
- Publisher
- Penguin Publishing Group
- Date Published
- 1964
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ThriftBooks
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Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Mass Market
- Mass market paperback books, or MMPBs, are printed for large audiences cheaply. This means that they are smaller, usually 4...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...