THE SKETCHES OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
Louisa May Alcott, THE SKETCHES OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTTThe first comprehensive collection of Louisa May Alcott's (1832–1888) nonfiction sketches, this volume of vivid short writings deserves a special place on the bookshelves of scholars and general readers alike. As Kansas State University Alcott scholar Gregory Eiselein writes in his introduction, Alcott's "achievements in the genre have largely escaped attention because most of the texts have been unavailable." Fortunately, this is no longer so. Grouped into five categories ("Hospital Sketches," "Letters from the Mountains," "Sketches of Europe," "Concord, Massachusetts," and "From The Youth's Companion
and Merry's Museum "), these by turns frank, witty, ironic, charming and pensive pieces were almost all written when Alcott was between the ages of 28 and 43. For a woman in the 19th century, she shows unusual independence, traveling widely by herself and writing, often irreverently, about her full range of experiences. A toughness of spirit, in fact, is amply evident in these pieces. As an army nurse during the Civil War, Alcott admits to "a taste for 'ghastliness'" and describes the wounded with surprising detachment ("I would have given much to have possessed the art of sketching, for many of the faces became wonderfully interesting when unconscious"). She palpably evokes the tension in the air when, while staying at a Swiss pension, Alcott, a "born abolitionist," encountered a South Carolina family bewailing its wartime loss of 500 slaves. Alcott is best known for Little Women , but her work is more varied and complex than many realize. With the publication of this volume, her importance in American literary history may be better understood. (Apr. 1)
closeDetailsReviewed on: 03/26/2001
Genre: Nonfiction
Hardcover - 268 pages - 978-0-7531-6855-4
Paperback - 294 pages - 978-0-7531-6856-1
The first comprehensive collection of Louisa May Alcott's (1832–1888) nonfiction sketches, this volume of vivid short writings deserves a special place on the bookshelves of scholars and general readers alike. As Kansas State University Alcott scholar Gregory Eiselein writes in his introduction, Alcott's "achievements in the genre have largely escaped attention because most of the texts have been unavailable." Fortunately, this is no longer so. Grouped into five categories ("Hospital Sketches," "Letters from the Mountains," "Sketches of Europe," "Concord, Massachusetts," and "From
Reviewed on: 03/26/2001
Genre: Nonfiction
Hardcover - 268 pages - 978-0-7531-6855-4
Paperback - 294 pages - 978-0-7531-6856-1
