Happy Birthday, Frank Norris!

I was reminded of this birthday by Bill Peschel's Reader's Almanac. Why does it matter to me? Because at one time I was enamored by Norris's novels. Certainly McTeague is one of the earliest American noirs, and I enjoyed the pulpy sea story Moran of the Lady Letty tremendously. The Octopus is a fine muckraking tale, and one of Norris's books, The Pit, even inspired a popular card game. Long ago, when such things had to be chiseled on stone, I wrote my MA thesis on Norris's work. Those were the days!