Firecrackers: A Realistic Novel

Firecrackers: A Realistic Novel (1925) is a novel by Carl Van Vechten. Published in the same year as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Anita Loos' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Van Vechten's novel has been recognized as an important document of the Jazz Age, a decade of bohemian excess and artistic experimentation that changed the shape of American and European culture. "You must think of a group of people in terms of a packet of firecrackers. You ignite the first cracker and the flash fires the fuse of the second, and so on, until, after a series of crackling detonations, the whole bunch has exploded, and nothing survives but a few torn and scattered bits of paper, blackened with powder." In Van Vechten's novel, an explosive group of friends welcomes a handsome young man into their midst. Gunnar O'Grady, an athlete and a jack of all trades, soon becomes an object of obsession for men and women alike. As he tries to satisfy their needs and desires while working to support himself, he begins to question the meaning of friendship itself. Firecrackers: A Realistic Novel, Van Vechten's fourth novel, is a fascinating work of fiction from a man who was always one step ahead of the rest. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Carl Van Vechten's Firecrackers: A Realistic Novel is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Publisher: Mint Editions
Published: 08/03/2021
Pages: 150
Weight: 0.38lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.35d
ISBN: 9781513282282

About the Author
Vechten, Carl Van: -

James Stevens (1892-1971) was an American author and composer. Born in Iowa, he was raised in Idaho at the logging camps of the Pacific Northwest. Returning from the First World War, Stevens worked at sawmills and as a logger in the forests of Oregon before leading an itinerant lifestyle throughout the West and Midwest. At public libraries, he conducted his own research on the logging industry and conservation, which influenced his novels and songs as well as earned him a position as director of public relations for the Western Lumberman's Association. His novels Paul Bunyan (1925) and Mattock (1927) earned him a reputation as a leading folklorist of the early twentieth century, and his songs, including "The Frozen Logger," have been recorded and sung by such artists as Jimmie Rodgers, the Weavers, and Bob Weir.