In a novel by this author, a man suffocates after falling into the hold of a ship bound for India called the Swanhilda. One of this author’s protagonists plays “six mournful airs” on his concertina and keeps a canary caged in a “little gilt prison.” In a novel by this author, a painting in Cedarquist’s gallery inspires Presley to write the socialist poem “The Toilers.” This author’s novel The Pit appears in an incomplete trilogy called The Epic of the Wheat, as does a novel about a feud between ranchers in the San Joaquin Valley and a railway company. Erich von Stroheim’s film Greed was based on a novel by this author in which the protagonist’s wife Trina wins the lottery and Marcus handcuffs himself to the title dentist in Death Valley. For 10 points, name this author of The Octopus and McTeague. ■END■
ANSWER: Frank Norris [or Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr.]
<Queens A, American Literature>
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