Booth Tarkington at the Indiana History Society

 This came across today from the IHS Blog: Talking Tarkington. Booth Tarkington was the most successful Indiana writer. Theodore Dreiser and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. may have been more influential, but Tarkington won two Pulitzers and sold a lot of books. He also inspired an Orson Welles movie. My Aunt Mary Ellen gave me a collection of Tarkington when I was 18, and I read Penrod on my own. He and F. Scott Fitzgerald felt similar but different. Both did go to Princeton.

Then I re-read Alice Adams in prison, and I found myself disappointed. This was his first Pulitzer winner. I have stayed away from The Magnificent Ambersons.

The blog post may hit on what caused my disappointment with Alice Adams:

In reviews and critiques of Tarkington’s books, racial stereotyping and insensitivity is noted as an underlying tone difficult to get past. Though Tarkington didn’t shy away from including Black characters in his works, he did rely on unkind and racist characteristics and language patterns. This is especially noted in his Penrod series but is found in his other works as well. Perhaps this is part of the reason his popularity has not been as enduring as other authors. However, another possibility is that Tarkington didn’t provide enough focus to draw the attention of readers and keep it as his writing styles and genres varied across time.

Visit the IHS Library between now and May 4 to see the Translating Tarkington exhibit. 

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