Sister Carrie
When eighteen-year-old Caroline Meeber steps off the train in Chicago, she carries little more than nerve and a wish for a better life. Theodore Dreiser’s first novel follows her through factory drudgery, a comfortable arrangement with a traveling salesman, and a fateful bond with Hurstwood, a married bar manager whose own fortunes collapse as hers rise. Carrie drifts upward almost by accident, discovering a gift for the stage, while the man who risked everything for her sinks into ruin. Blunt about money, sex, and the indifference of the city, the book scandalized readers in 1900 and helped open American fiction to hard realism. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.
About the Author
Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) was an American writer and one of the strongest voices of literary naturalism. Drawing on journalism and real events, he built sprawling novels about ambition and social force, among them Sister Carrie, An American Tragedy, and the Cowperwood trilogy.
See all books by Theodore Dreiser →
Listen to Sister Carrie Audiobook Free
Listen to Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser free online. The full audiobook (17 hr 47 min, 47 chapters, read by volunteer narrators) streams free on this page.
Sister Carrie (1900) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Magnet Attracting: A Waif Amid Forces | 17:39 | |
| 2 | What Poverty Threatened: Of Granite and Brass | 12:20 | |
| 3 | We Question of Fortune: Four-fifty a Week | 20:59 | |
| 4 | The Spendings of Fancy: Facts Answer with Sneers | 24:26 | |
| 5 | A Glittering Night Flower: The Use of a Name | 16:01 | |
| 6 | The Machine and the Maiden: A Knight of Today | 25:45 | |
| 7 | The Lure of the Material: Beauty Speaks for Itself | 24:14 | |
| 8 | Intimations By Winter: An Ambassador Summoned | 16:26 | |
| 9 | Convention's Own Tinder-Box: The Eye That Is Green | 14:58 | |
| 10 | The Counsel Of Winter: Fortune's Ambassador Calls | 17:04 | |
| 11 | The Persuasion Of Fashion: Feeling Guards O'er Its Own | 19:45 | |
| 12 | Of The Lamps Of The Mansions: The Ambassador's Plea | 17:42 | |
| 13 | His Credentials Accepted: A Babel Of Tongues | 17:56 | |
| 14 | With Eyes And Not Seeing: One Influence Wanes | 13:04 | |
| 15 | The Irk Of The Old Ties: The Magic Of Youth | 35:16 | |
| 16 | A Witless Aladdin: The Gate To The World | 18:46 | |
| 17 | A Glimpse Through The Gateway: Hope Lightens The Eye | 18:49 | |
| 18 | Just Over The Border: A Hail And Farewell | 12:38 | |
| 19 | An Hour In Elfland: A Clamour Half Heard | 27:28 | |
| 20 | The Lure Of The Spirit: The Flesh In Pursuit | 16:32 | |
| 21 | The Lure Of The Spirit: The Flesh In Pursuit | 9:47 | |
| 22 | The Blaze Of The Tinder: Flesh Wars With The Flesh | 24:50 | |
| 23 | A Spirit In Travail: One Rung Put Behind | 23:13 | |
| 24 | Ashes Of Tinder: A Face At The Window | 9:35 | |
| 25 | Ashes Of Tinder: The Loosing Of Stays | 9:32 | |
| 26 | The Ambassador Fallen: A Search For The Gate | 22:49 | |
| 27 | When Waters Engulf Us We Reach For A Star | 21:27 | |
| 28 | A Pilgrim, An Outlaw: The Spirit Detained | 23:34 | |
| 29 | The Solace Of Travel: The Boats Of The Sea | 28:42 | |
| 30 | The Kingdom Of Greatness: The Pilgrim Adream | 19:02 | |
| 31 | A Pet Of Good Fortune: Broadway Flaunts Its Joys | 24:14 | |
| 32 | The Feast Of Belshazzar: A Seer To Translate | 34:50 | |
| 33 | Without The Walled City: The Slope Of The Years | 21:14 | |
| 34 | The Grind Of The Millstones: A Sample Of Chaff | 21:00 | |
| 35 | The Passing Of Effort: The Visage Of Care | 25:17 | |
| 36 | A Grim Retrogression: The Phantom Of Chance | 24:00 | |
| 37 | The Spirit Awakens: New Search For The Gate | 20:59 | |
| 38 | In Elf Land Disporting: The Grim World Without | 25:43 | |
| 39 | Of Lights And Of Shadows: The Parting Of Worlds | 28:36 | |
| 40 | A Public Dissension: A Final Appeal | 22:02 | |
| 41 | The Strike | 41:41 | |
| 42 | A Touch Of Spring: The Empty Shell | 26:45 | |
| 43 | The World Turns Flatterer: An Eye In The Dark | 23:38 | |
| 44 | And This Is Not Elf Land: What Gold Will Not Buy | 26:59 | |
| 45 | Curious Shifts Of The Poor | 43:50 | |
| 46 | Stirring Troubled Waters | 27:38 | |
| 47 | The Way Of The Beaten: A Harp In The Wind | 48:35 |
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