The Cliff-Dwellers

novel by Fuller

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June 24, 2026

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"The Cliff-Dwellers" is a realistic novel by Henry Blake Fuller, published in 1893. It is considered the first important American city novel and focuses on people living in a Chicago skyscraper. The novel marked a shift in Fuller's writing, moving from European-based tales to a more grounded depiction of urban life in his native Chicago. Fuller, a Chicago native, wrote several other novels set in the city, exploring its social dynamics and artistic circles. The term "cliff dwelling" also refers to the masonry homes built by the Ancestral Puebloans in the southwestern United States, primarily between 1150 and 1300 CE, often for defensive purposes.12

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Henry Blake Fuller
…a decidedly different direction with The Cliff-Dwellers (1893), a realistic novel, called the first important American city novel, about people in a Chicago skyscraper. With the Procession (1895) was another realistic novel, about a wealthy Chicago merchant family and the efforts of some of its members to keep up with…
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…a decidedly different direction with The Cliff-Dwellers (1893), a realistic novel, called the first important American city novel, about people in a Chicago skyscraper. With the Procession (1895) was another realistic novel, about a wealthy Chicago merchant family and the efforts of some of its members to keep up with…
Read More