Bread

Charles G. Norris (1881 - 1945)

Bread by Charles G. Norris reads like a working class Great Gatsby with a tragic female main character. The author is said to have influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald. There is a kind of cadence to the writing, and arc to the story where this can be felt in both similarity and contrast. It follows the life of a woman from young adulthood to middle age between the years of 1905 to 1922 in New York City. She is a stenographer, has chosen the then taboo path of a “wage earner” as opposed to that of mother/wife/homemaker. The descriptions of the inner workings of a publishing house in a time when the printed word was still the apex of information technology are vivid. The social and domestic situations are touching and emotionally telling of how, however much things change, they also stay the same. The metaphor of “Bread” is quaintly heavy handed. “Dedicated to the working women of America”, Norris gives us the “straight dope” in this depiction of life in New York City in the early 20th century. - Summary by WildShimmeringPath

Genre(s): Published 1900 onward

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Book1 Chapter1 Sections1-4 WildShimmeringPath
00:24:07
Play 02 Book1 Chapter1 Sections5-7 WildShimmeringPath
00:24:42
Play 03 Book1 Chapter2 Sections1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:22:01
Play 04 Book1 Chapter2 Sections4-6 WildShimmeringPath
00:20:36
Play 05 Book1 Chapter3 Sections1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:21:06
Play 06 Book1 Chapter3 Sections4-7 WildShimmeringPath
00:20:45
Play 07 Book1 Chapter4 Sections1-5 WildShimmeringPath
00:30:03
Play 08 Book1 Chapter4 Sections6-10 WildShimmeringPath
00:36:55
Play 09 Book1 Chapter5 Sections1-2 WildShimmeringPath
00:09:04
Play 10 Book1 Chapter5 Sections3-5 WildShimmeringPath
00:24:19
Play 11 Book1 Chapter6 Sections1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:15:28
Play 12 Book2 Chapter1 Sections1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:22:56
Play 13 Book2 Chapter1 Section4 WildShimmeringPath
00:15:19
Play 14 Book2 Chapter2 Sections1-4 WildShimmeringPath
00:18:05
Play 15 Book2 Chapter2 Sections5-6 WildShimmeringPath
00:14:27
Play 16 Book2 Chapter2 Sections7-8 WildShimmeringPath
00:11:12
Play 17 Book2 Chapter2 Sections9-12 WildShimmeringPath
00:41:37
Play 18 Book2 Chapter3 Sections1-5 WildShimmeringPath
00:30:12
Play 19 Book2 Chapter3 Sections6-9 WildShimmeringPath
00:17:08
Play 20 Book2 Chapter4 Sections1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:21:39
Play 21 Book2 Chapter5 Sections1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:24:58
Play 22 Book2 Chapter5 Sections4-6 WildShimmeringPath
00:14:51
Play 23 Book2 Chapter5 Sections7-9 WildShimmeringPath
00:13:59
Play 24 Book2 Chapter6 Sections1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:16:26
Play 25 Book2 Chapter7 Sections1-4 WildShimmeringPath
00:22:41
Play 26 Book2 Chapter7 Sections5-7 WildShimmeringPath
00:17:54
Play 27 Book2 Chapter7 Sections8-9 WildShimmeringPath
00:15:45
Play 28 Book2 Chapter7 Sections10-11 WildShimmeringPath
00:19:02
Play 29 Book3 Chapter1 Sections 1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:29:50
Play 30 Book3 Chapter1 Sections4-7 WildShimmeringPath
00:28:28
Play 31 Book3 Chapter2 Sections1-2 WildShimmeringPath
00:28:02
Play 32 Book3 Chapter2 Sections3-4 WildShimmeringPath
00:24:32
Play 33 Book3 Chapter3 Sections1-3 WildShimmeringPath
00:37:42
Play 34 Book3 Chapter4 Sections1-4 WildShimmeringPath
00:27:39
Play 35 Book3 Chapter4 Sections5-6 WildShimmeringPath
00:41:29