A defiant critique of American capitalism §A MASTER OF GRITTY NATURALISM, Theodore Dreiser explores the corruption of the American dream in The Financier . Frank Cowperwood, a fiercely ambitious businessman, emerges as the very embodiment of greed as he relentlessly seeks satisfaction in wealth, women, and power. As Cowperwood deals and double-deals, betrays and is in turn betrayed, his rise and fall come to represent the American success story stripped down to brutal realities a struggle for spoils without conscience or pity. Dreiser s 1912 classic remains an unsparing social critique as well as a devastating character study of one of the most unforgettable American businessmen in twentieth-century literature.