An american tragedy

Novel by Theodore Dreiser

For the British newspaper, see Financier and Bullionist.

The Financier is a novel by Theodore Dreiser, based on real-life streetcar tycoon Charles Yerkes.

Dreiser started writing his manuscript in , and the following year published the first part of his lengthy work as The Financier.^[1] The second part appeared in as The Titan; the third volume of his Trilogy of Desire was also Dreiser's final novel, The Stoic ().

Plot summary

In Philadelphia, Frank Cowperwood, whose father is a banker, makes his first money passing by an auction sale; he successfully bids for seven cases of Castile soap, which he sells to a grocer the same day with a profit of over 70 percent.

Later, he gets a job in Henry Waterman & Company, and leaves it for Tighe & Company. He also marries an affluent widow, in spite of his young age. Over the years, he starts investing and misusing municipal funds with the aid of the City Treasurer,