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More copies of this ISBN:American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau: Their Lives, Thby Susan Cheever
Review-a-Day (What is Review-a-Day?)"Cheever doesn't really offer much that's new, but she packages it all so nicely. Rather than revering them as 'static daguerreotypes,' she brings these icons to life as men and women who fell in painful love, lived in crowded quarters, tramped on muddy roads, and 'walked arm in arm under Concord's great elms.' She also does a wonderful job of resurrecting the 19th century itself, and reminding us of how often her subjects were cold, hungry — well, the Alcotts, anyway — uncomfortable, and at the mercy of unenlightened doctors who harmed at least as often as they healed." Marjorie Kehe, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire CSM review) Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:The 1850s were heady times in Concord, Massachusetts: in a town where a woman's petticoat drying on an outdoor line was enough to elicit scandal, some of the greatest minds of our nation's history were gathering in three of its wooden houses to establish a major American literary movement. The Transcendentalists, as these thinkers came to be called, challenged the norms of American society with essays, novels, and treatises whose beautifully rendered prose and groundbreaking assertions still resonate with readers today.
Though noted contemporary author Susan Cheever stands in awe of the monumental achievements of such writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Louisa May Alcott, her personal, evocative narrative removes these figures from their dusty pedestals and provides a lively account of their longings, jealousies, and indiscretions. Thus, Cheever reminds us that the passion of Concord's ambitious and temperamental resident geniuses was by no means confined to the page... Review:"This beguiling book is Cheever's exploration of the extraordinary cross-fertilization of creativity in Concord, Mass., during the mid-19th century, when Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne and the Alcotts lived as neighbors there. If it won't offer much new information for serious students of American literature, it does provide a lively and insightful introduction to the personalities and achievements of the men and women who were seminal figures in America's literary renaissance, and who, Cheever theorizes, influenced the social activism of succeeding generations. In episodic chapters, Cheever describes their entwined relationships. Margaret Fuller was their brilliant, free-spirited muse and a model for Hester Prynne. Louisa May Alcott, was forced to support her family because her feckless father, Bronson, had no intention of doing so. Herman Melville briefly entered the enchanted circle through his friendship with Hawthorne. Cheever touches on their love affairs and intellectual platonic attractions, their high-minded idealism, their personal losses, their intermittent misunderstandings and jealousies, the years of penury suffered by all except Emerson and their full-fledged tragedies — such as Margaret Fuller's drowning. While Cheever sometimes indulges in high-flown speculation about their personal lives, she keenly analyzes the positive and negative ways they influenced one another's ideas and beliefs and the literature that came out of 'this sudden outbreak of genius.' 8 pages of photos." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"Susan Cheever is the latest literary moth to be drawn to the bright flame of mid-19th century Concord, Mass. Her 12th book, 'American Bloomsbury,' invites readers to meander through the lives of five neighbors whom we would do well to remember. Cheever sets her stage early on: 'We may think of them as static daguerreotypes, but in fact these men and women fell desperately in and out of love with each... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) Review:"[Cheever's] small volume about American Transcendentalists proves so lively and absorbing that it may awaken our desire to read some classics our teachers neglected to bludgeon us with." Hartford Courant Review:"Literary history with a pinch of irreverent salt." The Boston Globe Review:"With affection, Cheever captures heavyweight writers Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau as they move in and out of each other's lives. Rich with charming anecdotes, the portrait is an undeniable winner." Boston Magazine Review:"Cheever has crafted a stirring book along the apex of love triangles, the edge of jockeying egos and the crest of creative bursts set against the crabbed human condition." Cleveland Plain Dealer Review:"Susan Cheever's American Bloomsbury is a rather odd, and occasionally absorbing." Oregonian Review:"[Cheever] does a wonderful job of tracing the constant overlap and interplay of common experience and shared ideas that helped to shape their remarkable output." Christian Science Monitor Review:"Essential reading for anyone with an interest in American letters." Library Journal Review:"[Cheever's] inclusion of the neglected Louisa May Alcott in this pantheon of greats is a refreshing gesture." Los Angeles Times Review:"Cheever's accomplishment here is in making this fab five come alive for a new generation....American Bloomsbury is a charming book, and a welcome addition to the writings about these incomparable figures of American history." Balitomire Sun Synopsis:Between 1840 and 1868, Concord, Massachusetts, was home to such writers as Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. In this fascinating history, noted author Cheever explores how Concord developed into the first American community devoted to idealism. About the AuthorSusan Cheever is the bestselling author of eleven previous books, including five novels and the memoirs Note Found in a Bottle and Home Before Dark. Her work has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the Boston Globe Winship Medal. She is a Guggenheim Fellow, a member of the Corporation of Yaddo, and a member of the Author's Guild Council. She writes a weekly column for Newsday and teaches in the Bennington College M.F.A. program. She lives in New York City with her family. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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