西奥多·德莱塞以他的《嘉莉妹妹》开始,走上了文学写作的道路,但是这部长篇没有给德莱塞带来多少经济上的效益。小说出版后毁誉不一,青年批评家们一致捧场叫好,而一批老派文人,却一直视为这是部惊世骇俗的作品,甚至认为小说诲淫、鼓吹不道德行为,应该禁止发行,引起了很大的争论。不过青年批评家则认为这部小说为美国文学作品带进了一阵新的成熟的社会现实主义清风,这在《嘉莉妹妹》已显见端倪。 Theodore Dreiser, with his Sister Carrie, embarked on the road to literary writing, but the minister did not bring much economic benefit to Dreiser. After the publication of the novel, it was widely criticized, and young critics unanimously praised it. A group of old scholars always regarded it as a shocking work. They even considered the novel as obscene and advocating unethical behavior, Big debate. However, young critics think that this novel has brought a new and mature social realism to the American literary works, which is already evident in Sister Carrie.