Synopses & Reviews
In the late 1830s, Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, poet, lecturer, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement, publicly called for a radical nationwide vocational reinvention, and an idealistic group of collegians eagerly responded. Assuming the role of mentor, editor, and promoter, Emerson freely offered them his time, financial support, and anti-materialistic counsel, and profoundly shaped the careers of his young acolytesand#151;including Henry David Thoreau, renowned journalist and womenand#8217;s rights advocate Margaret Fuller, and lesser-known literary figures such as Samuel Ward and reckless romantic poets Jones Very, Ellery Channing, and Charles Newcomb.
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Author David Dowlingand#8217;s history of the professional and personal relationships between Emerson and his protand#233;gand#233;sand#151;a remarkable collaboration that alternately proved fruitful and destructive, tension-filled and liberatingand#151;is a fascinating true story of altruism, ego, influence, pettiness, genius, and the bold attempt to reshape the literary market of the mid-nineteenth century.
About the Author
David Dowling is assistant professor in the University of Iowaand#8217;s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and author of several books, most recently Literary Partnerships and the Marketplace: Writers and Mentors in Nineteenth-Century America. He lives in Iowa City.