Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) was an American writer and public figure, the author of An American Tragedy and The Financier. He was the ninth child in the family, but three older brothers died. He was forced to drop out of university. He worked as a clerk and a laundry wagon driver. He wrote for Metropolitan, Harper's, and Cosmopolitan magazines. His first novel, Sister Carrie (1900), was met with extreme hostility by the puritanical public and critics. In 1944, he received the Gold Medal of Honor for outstanding achievements in art and literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He actively spoke at rallies and published in the communist press in the United States. In 1927, he traveled through the USSR and published 'Dreiser Looks at Russia.'

The final novel in Theodore Dreiser's 'Trilogy of Desire,' 'The Stoic,' was published after his death. Millionaire financier Frank Cowperwood, who is reaching retirement age after a Chicago crash, moves his business to London and continues to achieve success, but death has other plans…