Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Octopus

The Octopus

Norris, Frank

Paperback

RomanceGeneral FictionHistorical Fiction

ISBN10: 1973992043
ISBN13: 9781973992042
Publisher: Createspace
Published: Aug 4 2017
Pages: 168
Weight: 0.89
Height: 0.36 Width: 8.50 Depth: 11.02
Language: English

Inspired by The Mussel Slough Tragedy, an 1880 dispute over land titles between California settlers and the Southern Pacific Railroad, Frank Norris' 1901 novel, The Octopus: A California Story, is the first part in his unfinished trilogy, The Epic of Wheat. The novel depicts the conflict between wheat farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and the Pacific and Southwestern Railroad. When the railroad company attempts to take possession of land leased to and improved by the farmers, the farmers are forced to defend themselves and their claims to the land that they rely on for their livelihood. A powerful social and political commentary, The Octopus focuses on how the powers of big business, in this case railroads and their unfair monopolies, are leveraged against the interests of the common man. The second volume of The Epic of Wheat trilogy, The Pit, which focused on the distribution of wheat in Chicago, was published after Norris' death and the third installment, to be titled The Wolf, which was intended to focus on the effects of famine, was never written. Epic in scope, richly detailed, and satisfyingly realistic, The Octopus is a testament to the tragedy often wrought by unchecked corporate power and greed. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

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