The American (novel)

The American
Cover of The American
AuthorHenry James
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherJames R. Osgood and Company, Boston
Publication date
5 May 1877
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Serial, Hardback & Paperback)
Pages435 pp
TextThe American at Wikisource

The American is a novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly in 1876–77 and then as a book in 1877.

The novel is an uneasy combination of social comedy and melodrama concerning the adventures and misadventures of Christopher Newman, an essentially good-hearted but rather gauche American businessman on his first tour of Europe. Newman is looking for a world different from the simple, harsh realities of 19th-century American business. He encounters both the beauty and the ugliness of Europe, and learns not to take either for granted. The core of the novel concerns Newman's courtship of a young widow from an aristocratic Parisian family.