Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer is Steven Millhauser's most successful novel. Published in 1996, the book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award. Needless to say, critics greeted Millhauser's latest with marked approval. In stark contrast to Millhauser's previous fascination with fantasy and the pseudo-magical, this novel encompasses a more realist perspective. In fact, many note the practical descriptions with which the author depicts Dressler's story.
As a novel published in the late 1990s, Martin Dressler asserts its position as a return to modern values. The postmodernists were in large force dominating the literary field, but novels like Millhauser's appear to combat this perspective by attempting to prove that the Capitalist system is functioning well and that the Western world is the key to progress. As Martin Dressler's narrative illustrates, the American Dream is alive and well. Unfortunately, his story is ironically set in near the turn of the previous century, evoking a nearly romantic relationship to the ideals of the past.
