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Literature
10 Best-Selling Indiana Authors from Another Era
Laura McPhee Jun 28, 2018 0
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Summer Reads (Old Books)
Indianapolis earned its literary reputation long before Kurt
Vonnegut made a name for himself as one of the greatest
writers of the last century. In the years between the end of
the Civil War and end of World War I, there was barely a time
when Hoosier authors didn’t top the best-seller lists.
This golden age of Indiana literature
occurred roughly between 1870 and 1920. During those 50
years, Hoosiers were second only to New Yorkers in the sheer
number of authors with books topping Publisher’s Weekly
best-seller lists. Ben-Hur was the blockbuster that truly
put Indiana authors on the map, but dozens of others made it
hard to ignore the Hoosier phenomenon.
Take some time this summer to discover one or more of our
literary ancestors for yourself. In many cases, the books
offer a wonderful opportunity to experience the Indiana of 100
years ago. In most cases, they also make a wonderful way to
pass a summer afternoon or two.
Sarah Bolton (1814–1893)
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Bolton.jpg
From 1850 until her death, Bolton was the unofficial poet
laureate of the state, speaking at every public event from
Statehouse hearings to church picnics. Her best-known poem,
“Paddle Your Own Canoe,” gained worldwide acclaim and was put
to music as a popular song at least twice before 1900. She
published two collections of poetry in her later years, The
Life and Poems of Sarah Bolton (1880) and Songs of a Lifetime
(1892). Both have dozens of poems about early pioneer life in
Indianapolis and the people and places Bolton knew best.
Edward Eggleston (1837–1902)
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Hoosier Schoolmaster.jpg
Hailing from Vevay, Indiana, along the river near Madison,
Eggleston’s best-known book is the 1871 novel The Hoosier
Schoolmaster. Based on experiences his brother had while
teaching in the backwoods, the book is a simple romance with
light humor and adventure. More importantly, it’s one of the
earliest examples of a book written in Midwestern
dialect—predating Mark Twain, who is rumored to have gotten
the idea of writing about Tom and Huck in dialect here. The
Hoosier Schoolmaster was a huge best-seller, and Eggleston
became known as the first Hoosier author. A sequel, The
Hoosier Schoolboy, appeared in 1873. It was still popular
enough in 1937 to be made into a movie starring Mickey Rooney.
Lew Wallace (1827–1905)
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Ben Hur.jpg
Ben-Hur is the biggest book to come out of Indiana and one of
the best-selling books of all time. It was the first novel to
outsell Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and it has never been out of print
in the nearly 140 years since first published. The full title
is Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880), and it is a book of
biblical proportions and subject matter. Wallace was a war
hero and a historian who spent seven years writing Ben-Hur,
and it might feel as if it will take that long to read it.
Don’t despair, and don’t give up. The book really is better
than the movie, even without Charlton Heston.
Related: Behind Booth Tarkington – Portraits from the
Gentleman’s Collection at the IMA
James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916)
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Riley.jpg
Born in Greenfield, Riley became an Indianapolis fixture in
his adult years, and his name still graces schools, hospitals,
and apartment buildings. Most recently, that’s Riley with the
monocle and top hat staring down from a large mural near his
home in Lockerbie. His folksy poems struck a chord with
American’s love of all things bucolic as the Victorian era
ended, and Riley became a national celebrity. Poems such as
“Little Orphant Annie” (1885) and “The Raggedy Man” (1888)
were memorized and recited for generations, and books such as
An Old Sweetheart of Mine (1891) can still be found in a good
number of Indianapolis homes.
George Barr McCutcheon (1866–1928)
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Graustark.jpg
The most famous of the forgotten Hoosier authors, McCutcheon
was a playwright and novelist from Lafayette who dominated
best-seller lists with his series of Graustark books from
1900–1920. The first, Graustark: The Story of a Love Behind a
Throne (1901) is a romance novel introducing the princess of
Graustark and her love-struck American suitor. Still a great
read, the Graustark novels spawned dozens of movies and became
an early example of romantic comedy. McCutcheon also wrote
Brewster’s Millions (1902), which has seen 12 film versions
over the years, including the 1985 Richard Pryor remake.
Gene Stratton-Porter (1863–1924)
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Girl of the Limberlost.jpg
She was the best-selling Hoosier author of the last century
and one of the most famous authors in the world when she died
in an automobile accident in 1924. Two of her books, Freckles
(1904) and Girl of the Limberlost (1909), were among the 10
best-sellers in the United States from 1870–1920. At the time
of her death, she had moved to Los Angeles and started her own
film company to produce movie versions of her books. She died
before the first film was released, but versions of Girl of
the Limberlost continued to find their way to the big screen
at least five more times before 1995.
Related: Circle City Sheroes – 50 Local Women Who Resisted,
Persisted and Paved the Way
Meredith Nicholson (1866–1947)
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House of Candles.jpg
If you’re looking for a perfect summer read, you can’t go
wrong with Meredith Nicholson. His novels are simply
delightful. Light on the heavy prose or saccharine that
characterize most of his peers, his most famous work, The
House of a Thousand Candles (1906), is one of the earliest
mysteries of popular fiction and will still hold your
attention right up to the Scooby-Doo reveal at the end.
Another great read is A Hoosier Chronicle (1912). Nicholson’s
descriptions of Indianapolis and thinly veiled
characterization of prominent citizens make the book a
wonderful way to travel back in time.
Related: Meredith Nicholson – A Writing Life (Review)
Booth Tarkington (1869–1946)
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Vanrevels.jpg
He was the first writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
twice, the first for The Magnificent Ambersons (1919) and the
second for Alice Adams (1921). Only two writers, William
Faulkner and John Updike, have won twice since. Tarkington was
a lifelong resident of Indianapolis, though he summered in
Kennebunkport for decades, and clung to Victorian mores and
ideas of class structure until his dying breath. If you’re new
to Tarkington, start with his first novel, The Gentleman from
Indiana (1899), the humorous The Two Vanrevels (1902), or
Alice Adams. Leave The Ambersons for winter.
Related: Booth Tarkington at the Movies
Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945)
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Sister Carrie.jpg
A controversial writer who downplayed his Hoosier roots for
most of his life, Dreiser hailed from Terre Haute and made his
name in newspapers before novels. The tragic story of Sister
Carrie (1909) changed all that, and Dreiser received much
criticism for his realistic portrayal of a country girl who
goes to the big city and falls prey to just about everything.
An American Tragedy (1925) follows many of the same themes,
but this time it’s a young man who succumbs to temptation and
pays tremendously for his indiscretions. There’s no question
that Dreiser is dark. But it’s a welcome antidote to the
sugary mores of most fiction from the era.
Alice Woods (1872–1959)
+10
Edges.jpg
Alice Woods lived one of the most exciting lives and wrote
some of the most popular fiction of any Hoosier author. Her
first novel, Edges (1902), is based on her experiences as a
young art student in Paris, and she followed with five more
books, all but one set in her adopted home of France. The most
controversial was The Hairpin Duchess (1924), here Woods
fictionalized the circumstances around the suicide of her
friend Margaret Cravens, a young music student from Indiana
who fell in love with Ezra Pound (also a friend) while living
in Paris.
Related: Summer Reads – 10 New Books by Hoosier Authors
1
Tags
Author Cinema Poetry Theatre Publishing Hoosier Graustark
Sarah Bolton Poem Literature Booth Tarkington Meredith
Nicholson Golden Age Indiana Literature James Whitcomb Riley
Alice Woods Hoosier Schoolmaster Indianapolis Books
Indianapolis
Laura McPhee
Indianapolis earned its literary reputation long
before Kurt Vonnegut made a name for himself as
one of the greatest writers of the last century.
In the years between the end of the Civil War and
end of World War I, there was barely a time when
Hoosier authors didn’t top the best-seller lists.
This golden age of Indiana literature
occurred roughly between 1870 and 1920. During
those 50 years, Hoosiers were second only to New
Yorkers in the sheer number of authors with books
topping Publisher’s Weekly best-seller
lists. Ben-Hur was the blockbuster that
truly put Indiana authors on the map, but dozens
of others made it hard to ignore the Hoosier
phenomenon.
Take some time this summer to discover one or
more of our literary ancestors for yourself. In
many cases, the books offer a wonderful
opportunity to experience the Indiana of 100 years
ago. In most cases, they also make a wonderful way
to pass a summer afternoon or two.
Sarah Bolton (1814–1893)
From 1850 until her death, Bolton was the unofficial poet laureate of
the state, speaking at every public event from
Statehouse hearings to church picnics. Her
best-known poem, “Paddle Your Own Canoe,” gained
worldwide acclaim and was put to music as a
popular song at least twice before 1900. She
published two collections of poetry in her later
years, The Life and Poems of Sarah Bolton
(1880) and Songs of a Lifetime (1892).
Both have dozens of poems about early pioneer life
in Indianapolis and the people and places Bolton
knew best.
Edward Eggleston (1837–1902)
Hailing from Vevay, Indiana, along the river near
Madison, Eggleston’s best-known book is the 1871
novel The Hoosier Schoolmaster. Based on
experiences his brother had while teaching in the
backwoods, the book is a simple romance with light
humor and adventure. More importantly, it’s one of
the earliest examples of a book written in
Midwestern dialect—predating Mark Twain, who is
rumored to have gotten the idea of writing about
Tom and Huck in dialect here. The Hoosier
Schoolmaster was a huge best-seller, and
Eggleston became known as the first Hoosier
author. A sequel, The Hoosier Schoolboy,
appeared in 1873. It was still popular enough in
1937 to be made into a movie starring Mickey
Rooney.
Lew Wallace (1827–1905)
Ben-Hur is the biggest book to come out
of Indiana and one of the best-selling books of
all time. It was the first novel to outsell Uncle
Tom’s Cabin, and it has never been out of
print in the nearly 140 years since first
published. The full title is Ben-Hur: A Tale of the
Christ (1880), and it is a book of
biblical proportions and subject matter. Wallace
was a war hero and a historian who spent seven
years writing Ben-Hur, and it might feel
as if it will take that long to read it. Don’t
despair, and don’t give up. The book really is
better than the movie, even without Charlton
Heston.
Related: Behind Booth
Tarkington – Portraits from the Gentleman’s
Collection at the IMA
James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916)
Born in Greenfield, Riley became an Indianapolis
fixture in his adult years, and his name still
graces schools, hospitals, and apartment
buildings. Most recently, that’s Riley with the
monocle and top hat staring down from a large
mural near his home in Lockerbie. His folksy poems
struck a chord with American’s love of all things
bucolic as the Victorian era ended, and Riley
became a national celebrity. Poems such as “Little
Orphant Annie” (1885) and “The Raggedy Man” (1888)
were memorized and recited for generations, and
books such as An Old Sweetheart of Mine
(1891) can still be found in a good number of
Indianapolis homes.
George Barr McCutcheon (1866–1928)
The most famous of the forgotten Hoosier authors,
McCutcheon was a playwright and novelist from
Lafayette who dominated best-seller lists with his
series of Graustark books from
1900–1920. The first, Graustark: The Story of
a Love Behind a Throne (1901) is a romance
novel introducing the princess of Graustark and
her love-struck American suitor. Still a great
read, the Graustark novels spawned dozens of
movies and became an early example of romantic
comedy. McCutcheon also wrote Brewster’s
Millions (1902), which has seen 12 film
versions over the years, including the 1985
Richard Pryor remake.
Gene Stratton-Porter (1863–1924)
She was the best-selling Hoosier author of the
last century and one of the most famous authors in
the world when she died in an automobile accident
in 1924. Two of her books, Freckles
(1904) and Girl of the Limberlost
(1909), were among the 10 best-sellers in the
United States from 1870–1920. At the time of her
death, she had moved to Los Angeles and started
her own film company to produce movie versions of
her books. She died before the first film was
released, but versions of Girl of the
Limberlost continued to find their way to
the big screen at least five more times before
1995.
Related: Circle City Sheroes – 50
Local Women Who Resisted, Persisted and Paved
the Way
Meredith Nicholson (1866–1947)
If you’re looking for a perfect summer read, you
can’t go wrong with Meredith Nicholson. His novels
are simply delightful. Light on the heavy prose
or saccharine that characterize most of his peers,
his most famous work, The House of a Thousand
Candles (1906), is one of the earliest
mysteries of popular fiction and will still hold
your attention right up to the Scooby-Doo reveal
at the end. Another great read is A Hoosier
Chronicle (1912). Nicholson’s descriptions
of Indianapolis and thinly veiled characterization
of prominent citizens make the book a wonderful
way to travel back in time.
Related: Meredith Nicholson
– A Writing Life (Review)
Booth Tarkington (1869–1946)
He was the first writer to win the Pulitzer Prize
for Fiction twice, the first for The
Magnificent Ambersons (1919) and the second
for Alice Adams (1921). Only two
writers, William Faulkner and John Updike, have
won twice since. Tarkington was a lifelong
resident of Indianapolis, though he summered in
Kennebunkport for decades, and clung to Victorian
mores and ideas of class structure until his dying
breath. If you’re new to Tarkington, start with
his first novel, The Gentleman from Indiana
(1899), the humorous The Two Vanrevels
(1902), or Alice Adams. Leave The
Ambersons for winter.
Related: Booth Tarkington
at the Movies
Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945)
A controversial writer who downplayed his Hoosier
roots for most of his life, Dreiser hailed from
Terre Haute and made his name in newspapers before
novels. The tragic story of Sister Carrie
(1909) changed all that, and Dreiser received much
criticism for his realistic portrayal of a country
girl who goes to the big city and falls prey to
just about everything. An American Tragedy
(1925) follows many of the same themes, but this
time it’s a young man who succumbs to temptation
and pays tremendously for his indiscretions.
There’s no question that Dreiser is dark. But it’s
a welcome antidote to the sugary mores of most
fiction from the era.
Alice Woods (1872–1959)
Alice Woods lived one of the most exciting lives
and wrote some of the most popular fiction of any
Hoosier author. Her first novel, Edges
(1902), is based on her experiences as a young art
student in Paris, and she followed with five more
books, all but one set in her adopted home of
France. The most controversial was The
Hairpin Duchess (1924), here Woods
fictionalized the circumstances around the suicide
of her friend Margaret Cravens, a young music
student from Indiana who fell in love with Ezra
Pound (also a friend) while living in Paris.
Related: Summer Reads – 10
New Books by Hoosier Authors
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