Synopses & Reviews
William Blake, overlooked in his time, remains an enigmatic figure to contemporary readers despite his near canonical status. Out of a wounding sense of alienation and dividedness he created a profoundly original symbolic language, in which words and images unite in a unique interpretation of self and society. He was a counterculture prophet whose art still challenges us to think afresh about almost every aspect of experienceandmdash;social, political, philosophical, religious, erotic, and aesthetic. He believed that we live in the midst of Eternity here and now, and that if we could open our consciousness to the fullness of being, it would be like experiencing a sunrise that never ends.
and#160;
Following Blakeandrsquo;s life from beginning to end, acclaimed biographer Leo Damrosch draws extensively on Blakeandrsquo;s poems, his paintings, and his etchings and engravings to offer this generously illustrated account of Blake the man and his vision of our world. The authorandrsquo;s goal is to inspire the reader with the passion he has for his subject, achieving the imaginative response that Blake himself sought to excite. The book is an invitation to understanding and enjoyment, an invitation to appreciate Blakeandrsquo;s imaginative world and, in so doing, to open the doors of our perception.
Review
Praise for
Tocqueville's Discovery of AmericaThis entirely fresh book, about one of the most fateful, significant and profound journeys ever taken in modern times, is lavishly readable and compelling and illuminating.” Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News
Helping to humanize as well as historicize the young Tocqueville while he was discovering America is the main achievement of Damroschs concise and absorbing new book . . . [It] ought to make a more nuanced appreciation of both the man and his great work accessible to a wide readership . . . The human young Tocqueville is much more impressive than the cold abstraction, and for helping to bring him to life we are in Leo Damroschs debt.” Sean Wilentz, The American Prospect
Leo Damrosch applies the perspective and strengths of an outstanding literary scholar to narrating Alexis de Tocquevilles famous visit to the United Statesits motives and outcome along with its daily course. Damrosch places Tocquevilles famous book about America securely in its French context and enriches our understanding with fascinating personal insights. The readers pleasure is enhanced by the many charming illustrations.” Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 18151848
In this deft and original book, Leo Damrosch helps us rediscover Tocqueville and the nation the Frenchman chronicled so brilliantly and enduringly. What Tocqueville found in Jacksonian America resonates anew in our own time, and Damroschs engaging account of a world at once remote and familiar is invaluableand entertaining.” Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion
Review
Praise for
Tocqueville's Discovery of AmericaHelping to humanize as well as historicize the young Tocqueville while he was discovering America is the main achievement of Damroschs concise and absorbing new book . . . [It] ought to make a more nuanced appreciation of both the man and his great work accessible to a wide readership . . . The human young Tocqueville is much more impressive than the cold abstraction, and for helping to bring him to life we are in Leo Damroschs debt.” Sean Wilentz, The American Prospect
Leo Damrosch applies the perspective and strengths of an outstanding literary scholar to narrating Alexis de Tocquevilles famous visit to the United Statesits motives and outcome along with its daily course. Damrosch places Tocquevilles famous book about America securely in its French context and enriches our understanding with fascinating personal insights. The readers pleasure is enhanced by the many charming illustrations.” Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 18151848
In this deft and original book, Leo Damrosch helps us rediscover Tocqueville and the nation the Frenchman chronicled so brilliantly and enduringly. What Tocqueville found in Jacksonian America resonates anew in our own time, and Damroschs engaging account of a world at once remote and familiar is invaluableand entertaining.” Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion
Review
Praise for
Tocqueville's Discovery of America“Tocqueville's Discovery of America is lively, always interesting, and oftne touching. It also fills a gap in the literature that was deliberately created by Tocqueville himself.”—Alan Ryan, The New York Review of Books
“[A] scintillating new book . . . Remarkably, given the excitements and reach of Tocquevilles nine-month American trip, it is seventy years since the last full account of the itinerary. Leo Damrosch is well qualified to do the renovation. A distinguished specialist of eighteenth-century literature at Harvard . . . he is deeply familiar with Tocquevilles literary and intellectual contexts . . . Damrosch contagiously enjoys himself, and happily enters into the enthusiasms of the two young Frenchmen, as they let the strange, loud, free, placeless society disturb and excite them.” —James Wood, The New Yorker
“Leo Damrosch has provided a perfect accompaniment to [Democracy in America] . . . This lovely book ought to delight those who already love Tocqueville's great work, for showing how it came to be. But it can also serve as a fine introduction for those just coming to Democracy in America.” —Keith Monroe, The Virginian-Pilot
“Damrosch is an acute observer of Tocqueville.” —David S. Reynolds, The New York Times Book Review
“In Tocquevilles Discovery of America, Leo Damrosch, who teaches literature at Harvard, has seized an opportune moment to scratch the polished surface and explore what lay behind the oracular pronouncements. At a time when generalizations about the American soul seem risky at best, it is somehow reassuring to learn that even the great Tocqueville was often winging it . . . Rather than rely on the book published years after his return to France, as most scholars do, Damrosch draws on the letters Tocqueville wrote home to friends and family, as well as various unpublished notes he took during his trip. The material gives a life and freshness often absent from drier academic tomes.” —François Furstenberg, Slate
“Leo Damrosch narrates [Tocqueville and Beaumonts] journey through salons and saloons, the beautiful Hudson River Valley and the trackless Wisconsin forest, clouds of merciless mosquitoes and flocks of gorgeous parrots . . . The result is neither another biography of Tocqueville . . . nor another study of ‘Democracy in America, but rather a genial and colorful portrait, on a modest scale, of an astonishing young country and the likeable young man who first interpreted it to Europe.” —George Scialabba, The Boston Globe
“In 1831, Tocqueville and his fellow French aristocrat Gustave de Beaumont traversed a burgeoning, teeming America in the grip of territorial expansion and commercial explosion . . . The author traces this journey, familiar to readers of Tocqueville but always wonderfully entertaining, while lending his own astute observations . . . Damrosch effectively demonstrates why Tocqueville proved ‘a superb interpreter of American culture. ” —Kirkus Reviews
“[Damrosch] presents an insightful update to Alexis de Tocquevilles 1831 tour of young America . . . Insightful and sometimes witty, [Tocquevilles Discovery of America] is a useful companion for all who are reading Tocqueville or want to learn more about him.” —Robert Moore, Library Journal
“[Damrosch] constructs a lively narrative of [Tocqueville and Beaumonts] eye-opening journey. Their arduous travel; their reactions to Americans informality; their foiled flirtations with young women—de Tocqueville and de Beaumont entertained their folks in France with these experiences, which Damrosch weaves into a flowing account.” —Gilbert Taylor, Booklist
“This entirely fresh book, about one of the most fateful, significant and profound journeys ever taken in modern times, is lavishly readable and compelling and illuminating.” —Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News
“Helping to humanize as well as historicize the young Tocqueville while he was discovering America is the main achievement of Damroschs concise and absorbing new book . . . [It] ought to make a more nuanced appreciation of both the man and his great work accessible to a wide readership . . . The human young Tocqueville is much more impressive than the cold abstraction, and for helping to bring him to life we are in Leo Damroschs debt.” —Sean Wilentz, The American Prospect
“Leo Damrosch applies the perspective and strengths of an outstanding literary scholar to narrating Alexis de Tocquevilles famous visit to the United States—its motives and outcome along with its daily course. Damrosch places Tocquevilles famous book about America securely in its French context and enriches our understanding with fascinating personal insights. The readers pleasure is enhanced by the many charming illustrations.” —Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848
“In this deft and original book, Leo Damrosch helps us rediscover Tocqueville and the nation the Frenchman chronicled so brilliantly and enduringly. What Tocqueville found in Jacksonian America resonates anew in our own time, and Damroschs engaging account of a world at once remote and familiar is invaluable—and entertaining.” —Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion
Review
andquot;Leo Damroschandrsquo;s luminous new book on William Blake forsakes esoteric scholarship and addresses itself to the common reader who is invited to a festive celebration of the great English poet who was also an extraordinary visual artist and a profound and original thinker.andquot;andmdash;Harold Bloom
Review
andldquo;This astute, generously illustrated study is an excellent introduction to William Blake. It will help both new and experienced readers to understand Blake as poet, painter, engraver, printerandmdash;and as a person.andrdquo;andmdash;Andrew Lincoln, Queen Mary University of London
Review
andldquo;Acclaimed scholar and biographer Damrosch brings decades of study to this analysis of William Blakeand#39;s art, poetry, religion, and philosophy. . . . The authorand#39;s study of the man and clear style makes this much easier to read and tempts readers to seek out more. . . . Damrosch expertly navigates Blakeand#39;s andlsquo;questing imagination,andrsquo; which andlsquo;has never ceased to startle and inspire.andrsquo; General readers looking for a challenge will love this book and will dive into Blakeand#39;s work.andrdquo;andmdash;Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Review
andldquo;Damroschandrsquo;s readings are nuanced, sensitive, and deeply perceptive, touched with wonder at the poetandrsquo;s originality and alive to the ways that Blakeandrsquo;s beliefs presented andlsquo;a wide-ranging challenge to orthodox morality.andrsquo; With generous illustrations, including a gallery of breathtaking full-color plates, Damroschandrsquo;s study will build an appreciation among scholars and general readers alike for Blakeandrsquo;s andlsquo;vast, complicated mythandrsquo; and reinforce his place in the Western canon as a andlsquo;profound thinkerandrsquo; and creative genius andlsquo;not in a single art but in two.andrsquo;andrdquo;andmdash;Publishers Weekly, starred review
Synopsis
Alexis de Tocqueville is more quoted than read; commentators across the political spectrum invoke him as an oracle who defined America and its democracy for all times. But in fact his masterpiece, Democracy in America, was the product of a young mans open-minded experience of America at a time of rapid change. In Tocquevilles Discovery of America, the prizewinning biographer Leo Damrosch retraces Tocquevilles nine-month journey through the young nation in 1831-32, illuminating how his enduring ideas were born of imaginative interchange with America and Americans, and painting a vivid picture of Jacksonian America.
Damrosch shows that Tocqueville found much to admire in the dynamism of American society and in its egalitarian ideals. But he was offended by the ethos of grasping materialism and was convinced that the institution of slavery was bound to give rise to a tragic civil war.
Drawing on documents and letters that have never before appeared in English, as well as on a wide range of scholarship, Tocquevilles Discovery of America brings the man, his ideas, and his world to startling life.
Synopsis
Prize-winning biographer Damrosch retraces Alexis de Tocqueville's nine-month journey through America in 1831-1832, illuminating how his enduring ideas were born of imaginative interchange with the young nation and its inhabitants.
Synopsis
In this richly illustrated portrait, a prize-winning biographer surveys the entire sweep of William Blakeandrsquo;s creative work while telling the story of his life
About the Author
Praise for Leo Damroschandrsquo;s
Jonathan Swift: His Life and World andldquo;This will be the definitive life of Swift for years to come.andrdquo;andmdash;Jonathan Bate, New Statesman
andldquo;Superb. . . . Damroschandrsquo;s outstanding book has raised Swiftandrsquo;s provocative genius to life. . . . Damrosch has brought [Swiftandrsquo;s] vision into sharp focus and exposed its disquieting relevance.andrdquo;andmdash;Jeffrey Collins, Wall Street Journal
andldquo;[A] commanding new biography. . . . Damrosch is gifted with a fluent style [and] sturdy sense of humor.andrdquo;andmdash;John Simon, New York Times Book Review (Editorandrsquo;s Choice)
and#160;andldquo;Damrosch tells this story . . . with great energy and elegantly worn erudition. He restores to Swift the dignity he deserves, reminding us that the really shocking things about him lie not in his life but in his work.andrdquo;andmdash;Fintan Oandrsquo;Toole, New York Review of Books
andldquo;Leo Damrosch conjures up Jonathan Swift with hallucinatory vividness, allowing the contradictions of this baffling, elusive genius full rein. He recovers in rich detail the world in which Gulliverand#39;s Travels and other enduring masterpieces were created. This is a brilliant and humane biography.andrdquo;andmdash;Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
and#160;andldquo;A lively and pleasurable experience: vigorous, compassionate, occasionally pugnacious, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. . . . Damroschandrsquo;s book, and the centuries-old voices in it, are alive and talking to us.andrdquo;andmdash;Laura Collins-Hughes, Boston Globe
and#160;
- Winner of the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography
- A New York Times Notable Book of 2013
- Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and Plutarch Award
- Named a Best Book of 2013 by the Daily Beast literary editor Lucas Wittmann