Martin Chuzzlewit

Greed. Hypocrisy. And the most selfish family in English literature.

Charles Dickens's sixth novel is a ferocious satire of American pretension, British complacency, and the universal human capacity for selfishness—wrapped around a mystery that takes four hundred pages to unravel.

Old Martin Chuzzlewit, a wealthy and suspicious man, believes everyone wants his money. He is correct. His grasping relatives circle like vultures: the oily hypocrite Pecksniff, who preaches morality while plotting betrayal; the vicious Jonas Chuzzlewit, who would poison his own father for an inheritance; and the young Martin Chuzzlewit, the old man's grandson, who is arrogant, proud, and banished to seek his fortune in America. When young Martin sails to the United States, Dickens unleashes a blistering satire of American manners, politics, and the press that so offended his hosts that it damaged his popularity for years. But the novel's real target is closer to home: the selfishness that corrodes every relationship, every family, and every heart.

This is Dickens at his most angry and funny: a novel about the war between selfishness and selflessness, and the slow, painful discovery that money is not the only inheritance. Martin Chuzzlewit was a commercial disappointment when first published—and is now recognized as one of his most brilliant achievements.

• Dickens's most sustained satire of American culture, including a famous send-up of the toothpick and the spittoon

• Features some of his greatest comic characters: the monstrous Pecksniff and the loathsome Jonas Chuzzlewit

• The novel that introduced the character of Mark Tapley, who insists on being cheerful in the worst possible circumstances

Available in multiple formats:

• Paperback & Hardcover: Beautifully designed print editions presenting the complete, unabridged text made to last.

• Ebook: DRM-free EPUB compatible with Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and all major e-readers.

• Audiobook: Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged, available on all major audiobook platforms.

A beautifully crafted edition for your shelf, your device, or your ears or the perfect gift for anyone who knows that selfishness, in the end, is its own punishment.

About the Author

Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was an English novelist, journalist, and social critic, widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Born in Portsmouth, he endured a childhood of poverty and forced labor in a blacking factory after his father was imprisoned for debt—experiences that shaped his lifelong commitment to social reform. Martin Chuzzlewit was published serially from 1843 to 1844. The novel was Dickens's least successful commercial venture at the time, largely because his biting satire of America offended readers on both sides of the Atlantic. However, it has since been recognized as a masterpiece of comic writing and social critique. His other major works include Oliver Twist (1837), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), A Tale of Two Cities(1859), and Great Expectations (1861). Dickens died of a stroke in 1870 and is buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.