An Ignorant And Ineffectual Man, Mcteague Has Established For Himself A Small, Uneventful Career As An Unlicensed Dentist; But His Life Changes After He Meets And Marries The Lovely Trina. A Winning Lottery Number Temporarily Enriches Their Lives — Until Trina's Ever-Increasing Lust For Money Arouses A Latent Brutish Nature In Her Husband. Inspired By An Actual Crime Sensationalized In The San Francisco Press At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century, Mcteague Chronicles The Demise Of A Charlatan And His Wife As They Descend Into A Web Of Moral Corruption.
a Literary Sensation When First Published In 1899, Frank Norris' Cult Classic Was One Of The Earliest Works In American Literature To Present A Compelling, Realistic View Of Human Nature At Its Most Basic Level. It Was Also The The Basis For Erich Von Stroheim's Groundbreaking 1924 Silent Film, Greed. A Riveting Tale Of Avarice, Degeneration, And Death, Mcteague Is "One Of The Great Works Of The Modern American Imagination" (Alfred Kazin).