Tarkington, Newton Booth (1869-1946)

Tarkington, Newton Booth (1869-1946)

American novelist and short-story writer, known for his popular books dealing with middle-class American life, chiefly in the Middle West, in a semi-realistic vein. Among his works are Monsieur Beaucaire ( 1900), an historical romance; The Gentleman from India ( 1899); The Conquest of Canaan ( 1905); The Man From Home ( 1908), a play; The Flirt ( 1913); Penrod ( 1914), Penrod and Sam ( 1916), Penrod Jashber ( 1929), and Little Orvie ( 1934), humorous books about small boys; Seventeen ( 1916) and Ramsey Milholland ( 1919), humorous books about adolescents; The Turmoil ( 1915), The Magnificent Ambersons ( 1918), and The Midlander ( 1923), published as a trilogy entitled Growth ( 1927); Clarence ( 1919), a comedy; Alice Adams ( 1921); The Plutocrat ( 1927); The World Does Move ( 1928), an autobiography; Claire Ambler ( 1928); Mirthful Haven ( 1931); Mary's Neck ( 1932); Wanton Mally ( 1932); Presenting Lily Mars ( 1933); The Lorenzo Bunch ( 1936); The Fighting Littles ( 1941); The Heritage of Hatcher Ide ( 1941). Both The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams were winners of the Pulitzer prize.

In 1943 he received, as the first man, the Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters for "general distinction in the field of literature."