Let's be clear: this isn't a straightforward, feel-good memoir. A Book About Myself is Theodore Dreiser looking back at his twenties with unflinching honesty, and what he sees isn't pretty.

The Story

The book follows a young Dreiser as he bounces from one newspaper job to another in the Midwest. He starts in Chicago, hungry for experience, and we follow him to St. Louis, Cleveland, and elsewhere. The plot is the grind. He covers train wrecks, corrupt politics, and tragic accidents. He's paid almost nothing, works in lousy conditions, and feels like a tiny cog in a massive, indifferent system. Along the way, he wrestles with big questions about faith, desire, and what makes a meaningful life, all while trying to scrape together enough for room and board. It's a portrait of an artist as a young man, but one who spends more time in smoky newsrooms and cheap boarding houses than in inspired garrets.

Why You Should Read It

I loved this book for its sheer, uncomfortable truth. Dreiser doesn't paint himself as a hero. He's often naive, frequently pretentious, and sometimes just plain miserable. But that's what makes it compelling. You get the real, messy process of a great writer finding his voice. You see how the harsh realities of city life and human nature—the very stuff he'd later write about in novels like Sister Carrie—were burned into him during these years. It's less about the news stories he covered and more about the story of his own awakening, which is slow, painful, and completely absorbing.

Final Verdict

This is a perfect read for anyone who loves behind-the-scenes looks at history, or for writers and creatives who've ever felt stuck in a day job that drains their soul. It's also great if you enjoy memoirs that don't sugarcoat the past. It's not a fast-paced adventure, but a slow, thoughtful, and deeply personal walk through the doubts and dreams of a young man at the turn of the 20th century. If you want a polished, triumphant origin story, look elsewhere. But if you want something authentic, gritty, and strangely relatable, Dreiser's journey is worth taking.