Why read The Magnificent Ambersons?

Book cover of The Magnificent Ambersons

Book description

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE

Booth Tarkington’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons, chronicles the grandeur and downfall of a once-great family. Set against the backdrop of a rapidly transforming Midwest, Tarkington weaves a mesmerizing tale of pride, passion, and the decline of American aristocracy in the face of industrialization…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Magnificent Ambersons as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Leslie Epstein

Author

What do you do as a follow-up to your first movie when that movie is immediately recognized as one of the greatest films ever made? Orson Welles chose to adapt Booth Tarkington's The Magnificent Ambersons. Unfortunately, the film was re-edited by the studio (cutting out at least 30 minutes), with a tacked-on ending Welles didn't even film himself, and it remains the only version we have. So we will never know if Welles' original two-hour version would be classed with Citizen Kane.

But even shredded, The Magnificent Ambersons is a stunning movie. Booth Tarkington was one of the…

From Leslie's list on The best novels that have great screen or TV adaptations.