The ''Genius'' By Theodore Dreiser

Driven to experience life beyond the small Illinois town of his youth

Driven to experience life beyond the small Illinois town of his youth, Eugene Witla makes his way to Chicago, where he is immediately drawn to the buzz of the city and the sexual freedom of bohemian life. At the Chicago Art Institute, he studies painting, soon making a name for himself as a gifted urban realist. Throughout his life, Witla’s commitment to his art is rivaled only by his need for erotic adventure. In love and marriage, and from Chicago to New York to the cities of Europe, Witla finds himself at odds with convention and pays a profound cost for his struggle.