Forgotten frontiers

the long version

This book is important as the first substantial biography of Theodore Dreiser. It was undertaken with his cooperation; and along with Dreiser's autobiographical works, Dudley had access to his files from 1900-1931, included reviews, interviews, and letters. The author went to considerable trouble to communicate with the people still living who were associated with Dreiser at important times of his life, and to get their statements. There is also much direct quotation from Dreiser on a wide variety of subjects. The book lacks any scholarly apparatus--no bibliography or index, but that did not appear to trouble the author. She had known Dreiser since 1916, and her frequent "quotations" of her conversations with Dreiser leave her as less an interpreter of his life and works, and more a reporter of his narrative of his life's journey. Ms. Dudley believed Dreiser's interpretation of his life, and as his friend, wrote a biography that was true to her understanding of his inner being and to the underlying character of the nation in which he sought to exist as an artist.