11 h 36 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 11 h 36 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a family thinks it owns the future, and the future has other plans?
In a growing Midwestern city, the Ambersons have the grand house, the parties, and the town’s respect. Major Amberson’s fortune seems to place them beyond ordinary worries. His grandson, George Amberson Minafer, grows up certain that his name entitles him to everything—and that nothing needs to change.
But Eugene Morgan returns as an automobile builder, bringing a new age into the Ambersons’ world. He still hopes for a second chance with George’s mother, Isabel. Meanwhile, his lively daughter Lucy attracts George. In Booth Tarkington’s The Magnificent Ambersons, family pride meets private longing as the city grows louder, dirtier, and less deferential.
What you’ll discover
- A family above everyone Enter grand rooms where wealth and admiration make the Amberson name seem permanent.
- Pride with a sharp tongue Meet George, whose certainty about his own importance leaves little room for anyone else.
- Love beneath family expectations Follow Isabel and Eugene as old feelings meet the demands of family loyalty.
- A city changing course Watch the automobile age challenge a town’s habits and its leading family’s place.
- Humor without cruelty Enjoy a knowing narrator who smiles at vanity while keeping the people in view.
Who will love it
For readers who love family sagas, social history and a narrator with a dry sense of humor, and anyone curious about the early age of the automobile.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The Ambersons rule a growing town
- Isabel chooses safety over love
- George grows up spoiled and sure of himself
- Eugene returns with a daughter and a machine
- The theme of pride against change
- How Tarkington tells the story
Who’s who
- George Amberson MinaferIsabel's only son, raised in luxury, proud of the family name and certain that the world exists to serve him.
- Isabel Amberson MinaferThe beautiful daughter of Major Amberson, who loves her son deeply and has long carried feelings for a man she did not marry.
- Eugene MorganA warm, clever man who once courted Isabel and returns years later as an automobile builder, hoping for a second chance.
- Lucy MorganEugene's daughter, lively and self-assured, who attracts George and is more than a match for his pride.
- Major AmbersonThe founder of the family fortune, who builds the grand mansion and the fashionable district at the center of the town.
- Fanny MinaferWilbur's sister, who lives close to the family, watches everything, and keeps her own hopes close.
- Wilbur MinaferIsabel's steady, quiet husband, a man of habit whose gentleness stands in contrast to the flash of the Amberson world.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
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- Audiobook
- 11 h 36 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Magnificent Ambersons
by Booth Tarkington · 1918
George Amberson Minafer clings to family pride as the automobile transforms the town his family rules.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, 1919
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In short
The Magnificent Ambersons is a novel by Booth Tarkington, published in 1918. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The Ambersons rule a growing town
The story opens in a Midwestern city in the years after the Civil War. The Ambersons are its leading family, and their wealth comes from the head of the clan, Major Amberson. The Major builds a huge mansion and lays out a fashionable new district of fine houses. Money seems to flow to him without end, and the town accepts that the Ambersons stand above everyone else.
Tarkington tells this part with a wry, almost teasing voice. He describes the fashions of the day, the manners, the horse carriages and the slow, comfortable life of a place that has not yet been touched by factories and noise. The Ambersons give balls and dinners, and being invited to them is a mark of rank. The narrator treats this world with affection, yet he lets you see how much of it rests on pride and habit.
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What is The Magnificent Ambersons about?
It is about a wealthy Midwestern family, the Ambersons, and the town they dominate. As the city grows and new industries arrive, the family's pride and fortune face a test, centered on the spoiled George and his mother Isabel.
Who is George Amberson Minafer?
He is Isabel Amberson's only son and the grandson of Major Amberson. Raised with every comfort and little discipline, he is proud and headstrong, and many in town expect him to be humbled one day.
Why is the automobile important in the novel?
The automobile, built and championed by Eugene Morgan, stands for the coming age of machines and growth. It sets the changing city and its new wealth against the settled, horse and carriage world of the Ambersons.
The author
Booth Tarkington
1869–1946 · American novelist
Booth Tarkington was an American novelist born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1869. He lived in Indianapolis and spent summers in Kennebunkport, Maine. He wrote Penrod (1914), Seventeen (1916), The Magnificent Ambersons (1918), and Alice Adams (1921). He also wrote plays. He died in Indianapolis in 1946.
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