Charles Gilman Norris (April 23, 1881 – July 25, 1945) was an American novelist. A native of Chicago, Norris worked as a journalist for some years before finding success as a novelist and playwright. His first book was ''The Amateur'' (1916). His other novels include ''Salt'' (1919), ''Brass: A Novel of Marriage'' (1921), ''Bread'' (1923), ''Pig Iron'' (1926), ''Seed: A Novel of Birth Control'' (1930), ''Zest'' (1933), ''Hands'' (1935), and ''Flint'' (1944). He also published three plays: ''The Rout of the Philistines'' (with Nino Marcelli, 1922), ''A Gest of Robin Hood'' (with Robert C. Newell, 1929), and '' Ivanhoe: A Grove Play'' (1936).

Critiques of his work

Norris was well-respected by his literary peers. In a letter to Alida Bigelow dated September 23, 1919,

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940), widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and exces ...

advised the young woman to "read "Salt" young girl so that you may know what life B." (spelling is that of Fitzgerald). ''The Oxford Companion to American Literature'' notes that Norris' novels dealt with "such problems as modern education, women in business, hereditary and environmental influences, big business, ethics and

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

Family

He was the brother of novelist

Frank Norris Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. (March 5, 1870 – October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalism (literature), naturalist genre. His notable works include ''M ...

and the husband of author

Kathleen Norris Kathleen Thompson Norris (July 16, 1880 – January 18, 1966) was an American novelist and newspaper columnist. She was one of the most widely read and highest paid female writers in the United States for nearly fifty years, from 1911 to 1959. No ...

. His granddaughter Kathleen Norris (1 Mar. 1935, San Francisco–8 Dec. 1967, San Francisco) was married to

Prince Andrew Romanoff Prince Andrew Romanoff (born ''Andrei Andreievich Romanoff''; 21 January 1923 – 28 November 2021) was a Russian American artist and author. He was a grand-nephew of Russia's last Tsar, Nicholas II. He was a great-great-grandson in the male l ...

(1923-2021).

Novels and short stories

* * * * Marriage; Short Stories of Married life by American Writers, Tarkington, Cutting, Hergesheimer, Miller, Street, Delano, Norris, Gale, Harrison, Kelland, Hopper, Adams, Butler, Foster, Hughes, Dreiser, Cooper, Turner, Webster, Lincoln. Garden City, N. Y.,: Doubleday Page, 1923. * ''Bread''. N.Y: Dutton, 1923. * ''Pig Iron''. N.Y: E. P. Dutton, 1926. * ''Zelda Marsh''. N.Y.: E.P. Dutton, 1927. * ''Seed, A Novel of Birth Control''. Garden City, N.Y.,: Doubleday Doran, 1930. * ''Zest. Garden City'', N. Y.: Doubleday Doran, 1933. * ''Hands. New York'',:

Farrar & Rinehart Farrar & Rinehart (1929–1946) was a United States book publishing company founded in New York. Farrar & Rinehart enjoyed success with both non-fiction and novels, notably, the landmark Rivers of America Series and the first ten books in the Ne ...

, 1935. * ''Bricks Without Straw''. N.Y.: Doubleday Doran, 1938. * ''Flint''. Garden City, New York.: Doubleday Doran, 1944. Books by Charles Norris in

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalism (literature), naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despi ...

's library *''John Rossiter's Wife''

Plays

* * Norris, Charles Gilman, Robert C. Newell, and Bohemian Club. ''A Gest of Robin Hood''. San Francisco,: Bohemian Club, 1929. * Norris, Charles Gilman, Walter Scott, and Calif. Bohemian Club (San Francisco). ''Ivanhoe: A Grove Play''. San Francisco: Bohemian Club, 1936.

Works on Frank Norris

* Norris, Frank. ''A Deal in Wheat, and Other Stories of the New and Old West''. New York,: Doubleday Page, 1903. * Norris, Frank, and Charles Gilman Norris (introd.). ''The Octopus : A Story of California''. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday Page & Co., 1924. * Norris, Frank, and Charles Gilman Norris. ''The Third Circle''. New York,: J. Lane Company, 1909. * Norris, Charles Gilman. ''Frank Norris, 1870–1902; An Intimate Sketch of the Man who was Universally Acclaimed the Greatest American Writer of His Generation''. New York,: Doubleday Page, 1914. * Norris, Frank, Oscar Lewis, and Charles Gilman Norris. ''Frank Norris of "the Wave": Stories & Sketches from the'' San Francisco Weekly, 1893 to 1897. San Francisco,: The Westgate Press, 1931.

External links

* * *
Guide to the Norris Family Papers
at The

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

Portrait Photograph
@ Online Archive of California * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Charles Gilman 1881 births 1945 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Novelists from Chicago