NORRIS, FRANK (1870–1902), American novelist, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on the 5th of March 1870. He studied art in Paris in 1887–1889; studied at the University of California (1890–1894), and at Harvard University (1894–1895); in 1895–1896 served in South Africa as war correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle; in 1896–1897 was associate editor of the San Francisco Wave; and in 1898 was sent to Cuba as war correspondent for McClure’s Magazine. He died in San Francisco on the 25th of October 1902. He wrote A Deal in Wheat, and Other Stories (1903), Responsibilities of the Novelist, and Other Literary Essays (1903), and the following novels: Moran of the Lady Letty (1898), a story of adventure off the California coast; McTeague (1899), a story of the San Francisco slums; Blix (1899), a love story; A Man’s Woman (1900); The Octopus (1901) and The Pit (1903). The last two were powerful stories, which made his reputation. The Octopus deals with wheat-raising in California and with the struggle between the growers and the railroad trust; The Pit with wheat-speculation in the Chicago market. His complete works were published in seven volumes in 1903.