Club members will discuss the biography of Theodore Dreiser, the history of the novel "Sister Carrie", the reactions of the first readers, and the author's stylistic features. The debut novel of Theodore Dreiser was written in 1900 and immediately faced resistance from publishers and critics. The story of a young woman striving to change her life was deemed immoral, and the first edition was hardly promoted. Out of 1008 copies, only 456 were sold. Participants in the meeting will explore how a book that started its journey as a factual failure eventually took a prominent place in American literature. The conversation will touch on Dreiser's biography and the circumstances surrounding the creation of his first major work. Listeners will learn which themes irritated the author's contemporaries and how the fates of his characters differed from the commonly accepted plots of that time. Special attention will be given to the writer's style. Dreiser was often criticized for his heaviness and carelessness. Readers will be able to provide examples from the text and compare different impressions of the author's manner. The meeting will be conducted by the staff of the Gogol House, Daniil Ryasov and Svetlana Panchenko. Participation is free, with prior registration. On our website, we share information about free events in Moscow.