World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Booth Tarkington

ブース・ターキントン

Booth Tarkington

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1869-07-29 （Indianapolis, Indiana, United States）
Died
1946-05-19 （Indianapolis, Indiana, United States） age 76
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Indianapolis (primary residence) → Kennebunkport, Maine (summer and later-life residence)

Career

Occupations
novelist, dramatist, writer
Active Years
1899-1946
Affiliations
John Herron Art Institute (trustee), Purdue University (donor; Tarkington Hall named in his honor), Colby College (recipient of papers)
Influenced By
Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, Theodore Dreiser
Influenced
Kenneth Roberts, Subsequent Midwestern writers

Education

Shortridge High School
Country: United States
Phillips Exeter Academy
Country: United States
Completed secondary education at the boarding school
Purdue University (attended)
Period: 在学2年間
Country: United States
Attended for two years; member of Sigma Chi
Princeton University (attended)
Country: United States
Did not earn undergraduate degree; active in dramatic association and campus life

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1919
Work: The Magnificent Ambersons
Organization: The Pulitzer Prizes
Result: winner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1922
Work: Alice Adams
Organization: The Pulitzer Prizes
Result: winner
O. Henry Memorial Award
1931
Work: Cider of Normandy (short story)
Organization: O. Henry Memorial Award Committee
Result: winner
National Institute of Arts and Letters Gold Medal
1933
Organization: National Institute of Arts and Letters
Result: awarded
Honorary Doctorates
Category: 名誉学位
Organization: Princeton University, Columbia University, Purdue University, etc.
Result: awarded

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Magnificent Ambersons

1918 Novel (social satire / coming-of-age)

A novel centered on the Amberson family in the Midwest, depicting the social and personal changes brought by industrialization and the arrival of the automobile; themes include family decline and changing times.

Midwestclass and social mobilityindustrialization and modernizationnostalgia
Adaptations
  • [film] The Magnificent Ambersons (1942 film) / Orson Welles (1942)
  • [television film] The Magnificent Ambersons (2002 TV film) (2002)
Translations
  • The Magnificent Ambersons (translations)

Alice Adams

1921 Novel (social novel)

Follows Alice Adams, an upwardly aspiring young woman, and examines social expectations about class and appearance; a work marked by social observation and satire.

social classaspirationyoung woman's life
Adaptations
  • [film] Alice Adams (1935 film) / George Stevens (1935)
  • [film] Alice Adams (1923 film) (1923)
Translations
  • Alice Adams (translations)

Penrod

1914 Novel (humor / boys' fiction)

A humorous series of episodes about the boy Penrod and his friends; was very popular and became a series.

boyhoodhumorregional Midwest color
Adaptations
  • [film (influenced/loosely adapted)] On Moonlight Bay (1951) and By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1954) (loosely based on Penrod series) (1951)
Translations
  • Penrod (translations)

Bibliography

  • The Gentleman from Indiana (1899)
  • Monsieur Beaucaire (1900)
  • Penrod (1914)
  • Seventeen (1916)
  • The Magnificent Ambersons (1918)
  • Alice Adams (1921)
  • Gentle Julia (1922)
  • The Midlander (1923)
  • The Plutocrat (1927)
  • Claire Ambler (1928)
  • The World Does Move (1928)
  • Presenting Lily Mars (1933)
  • Horse and Buggy Days (1936)
  • The Fighting Littles (1941)
  • Image of Josephine (1945)

Adaptations

  • The Magnificent Ambersons (1942 film, dir. Orson Welles)
  • Alice Adams (1935 film, dir. George Stevens)
  • Presenting Lily Mars (1943 film)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Midwestern regionalismrealistic observationsatirical social commentarynostalgic tone
Recurring Motifs
automobile and critique of modernizationclass and nouveau richefamily decline and past gloryboyhood episodes

Health

  • loss of vision / blindness
    1920年代後半–1931（部分的回復あり）
    He began losing his sight in the late 1920s and dictated to a secretary to continue working. Surgery partly restored his vision but his physical energy declined thereafter.

Legacy

One of the most commercially successful American writers in the early 20th century and a multiple Pulitzer winner. Widely read and adapted in film, especially for Midwestern settings; his academic reputation diminished after his death.

Museums

  • Kennebunkport Maritime Museum (includes Tarkington's renovated studio) Kennebunkport, Maine, United States
  • Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Archives

  • Colby College Special Collections
  • Purdue University Special Collections (Indiana Collection)
  • Princeton University (papers and donations)
  • Columbia University (library holdings)
  • Harry Ransom Center (Booth Tarkington collection)

In Popular Culture

  • Multiple film adaptations (The Magnificent Ambersons, Alice Adams, etc.)
  • Influenced 1950s films and musicals (works loosely based on the Penrod series)

Quotes

  • The world does move. (from The World Does Move)
    Source: The World Does Move (1928) (1928)

Trivia

  • Won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice (1919, 1922).
  • Served one term (1902–1903) in the Indiana House of Representatives.
  • Lost much of his eyesight in the late 1920s but continued to produce work by dictation.
  • Penrod series and Seventeen were major best-sellers in their era.