Anthony Adverse

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Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960 - Fiction - 1224 pages
"When it was first published, Anthony Adverse took more than the literary world by storm; in a day when 10,000 copies was a large edition, it sold over a million copies. Ever since then it has been bought and read with an enthusiasm accorded to few other books. Anthony Adverse has become a standard by which all historical fiction is inevitably measured. It has become a classic in its own time, one of the most loved and most influential books of this century. And it was not just the enthusiasm of reviewers or of a publisher that made the success of Anthony Adverse; the reading public took Anthony with an enthusiasm of its own. But the reviews do reflect well the feelings the book stimulates and give an indication of its vitality and its appeal Here are two from among hundreds: "What a project, and what a book! A work that took four years to write and yet bears the stamp of gusto from the first page to last. A full-bodied tale of birth and death, of love and hate, of fighting, mating, scheming, drifting - of overbearing lords and ancient gentlemen, simpering dames, passionate women of several colors, murder, rapine, revenge, long voyages, desperate encounters. ... A full adventurous romance, rich in action, heightened by poetic glamour." - Harry Hansen in the New York World-Telegram. "Anthony Adverse will lay hold upon a vast multitude of readers and grip them fast by its fascinations. For it is a living book; it vibrates; it sings itself into the very marrow of the bones." - Paul Jordan Smith in the Los Angeles Times. Anthony Adverse - begotten in France, born in the Alps, raised in Italy and flung by fortune to the West Indies, Africa, and finally to America - unlocks with the key of action the diverting experiences of his journey in body and thought from one hemisphere to another." --

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About the author (1960)

Novelist, poet, and biographer, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Allen began writing poetry while a student but did not start writing professionally until after his service in World War I, when he was teaching in South Carolina. His biography Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe was published in 1926. His novel Anthony Adverse (1933) is one of the best-selling historical novels of all time, with nearly 3 million copies in print to date. Allen's works of historical fiction are set all over the world and in eras ranging from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries. In spite of his use of rich details and historical background, Allen's focus is always on the people in his writing. He is less interested in examining the neuroses of characters than in portraying characters in a romantic, colorful, and exciting way that sweeps the reader along.

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