Frank Norris 
The Responsibilities of the Novelist (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) 
and Other Literary Essays

Published posthumously, this 1903 collection of Norris’s literary criticism was assembled by his wife Jeanette.  In the title essay, Norris argues that serious writers have an obligation to present their readers with the truths of daily life, and not with idle fantasies of romance or escape. He also discusses important issues of western literature and the closing of the American frontier.

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Frank Norris (1870–1902) was born in Chicago, but lived most his life in San Francisco. Inspired by the work of Emile Zola and Gustave Flaubert, Norris adapted their methods to American settings, adding a naturalist flair. He is best known for his novels Mc Teague, and The Octopus, set in California during an era of railroad expansion.