Project Gutenberg's Damaged Goods, by Upton Sinclair and Eugene Brieux

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Title: Damaged Goods
A novelization of the play "Les Avaries"

Author: Upton Sinclair
Eugene Brieux

Posting Date: August 16, 2008 [EBook #1157]
Release Date: January, 1998

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAMAGED GOODS ***

Produced by John P. Roberts, III

DAMAGED GOODS

The Great Play "Les Avaries" of Eugene Brieux

Novelized with the approval of the author

by Upton Sinclair

THE PRODUCTION OF EUGENE BRIEUX'S PLAY, "LES AVARIES," OR, TO GIVE IT
ITS ENGLISH TITLE, "DAMAGED GOODS," HAS INITIATED A MOVEMENT IN THIS
COUNTRY WHICH MUST BE REGARDED AS EPOCH-MAKING.--New York Times

+++Page 4 is a virtually unreadable letter in handwritten script from M.
Brieux.+++

PREFACE

My endeavor has been to tell a simple story, preserving as closely as
possible the spirit and feeling of the original. I have tried, as it
were, to take the play to pieces, and build a novel out of the same
material. I have not felt at liberty to embellish M. Brieux's ideas, and
I have used his dialogue word for word wherever possible. Unless I have
mis-read the author, his sole purpose in writing LES AVARIES was to
place a number of most important facts before the minds of the public,
and to drive them home by means of intense emotion. If I have been able
to assist him, this bit of literary carpentering will be worth while. I
have to thank M. Brieux for his kind permission to make the attempt, and
for the cordial spirit which he has manifested.

Upton Sinclair

PRESS COMMENTS ON THE PLAY

DAMAGED GOODS was first presented in America at a Friday matinee on
March 14th, 1913, in the Fulton Theater, New York, before members of
the Sociological Fund. Immediately it was acclaimed by public press and
pulpit as the greatest contribution ever made by the Stage to the cause
of humanity. Mr. Richard Bennett, the producer, who had the courage to
present the play, with the aid of his co-workers, in the face of most
savage criticism from the ignorant, was overwhelmed with requests for a
repetition of the performan