THEODORE DREISER’s star has waxed and waned in the academic community, from what was probably a nadir in the 1950s and 60s to a resurgence in the past couple of decades.

He has always had — and continues to have — devoted readers who can’t put his books down.

There is a Dreiser Industry — represented by a group of scholars who have done some marvelous work on Dreiser. While acknowledging their considerable contributions — especially in studying the composition of his works and publishing Dreiser's works in new, unexpurgated editions — I would like to see the world of Dreiser scholarship opened up a bit.

The Internet is a good place to begin this process.

This site is intended to accomplish that goal.

Dreiser is truly an American literary figure of international interest. It is remarkable how intense and very much alive interest in him is in Asia and in the countries in what used to be the USSR, as well as certain European countries.

The purpose of site is to:

• Provide a complete Dreiser resource for the beginning student and the serious scholar that incorporates and makes available the latest scholarship on Dreiser both in the U.S. and abroad.

• Provide a comprehensive and up-to-date Dreiser bibliography. The definitive bibliography (Theodore Dreiser: A Primary Bibliography and Reference Guide, Second Edition, 1991) is a monumental work the value of which can not be underestimated. The first iteration of my new Dreiser bibliography — available here now — covers the years 1990-2007, dates not included in the 1991 bibliography. A complete new bibliography is under development.

• Provide a complete Dreiser chronology (now under development).

• Provide a calendar of Dreiser’s voluminous correspondence (now under development) that identifies where letters can be accessed (on the web) or found in published form or archival resources.

• Provide a genealogy of the Dreiser family to assist scholars struggling with related biographical matters on which Dreiser himself was often inaccurate and misleading.

• Put Dreiser materials at the scholar’s fingertips either through links to where the information can be found or, as an alternative, directly in the form of files that can be obtained upon request from the compiler of this site.

Questions about this site should be directed to its developer, Roger W. Smith

ROGER W. SMITH is an independent scholar based in New York with expertise in English and early twentieth-century American literature. He is the former bibliographer of Dreiser Studies and has published several articles and reviews on Dreiser and his contemporaries.