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Republic of Words: The Atlantic Monthly and Its Writers, 1857-1925
A record of Atlantic Monthly authors reads like a Who's Who of American literature. The magazine's stable of contributors included Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Frederick Douglass, Louisa May Alcott, Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, Henry Adams, Frank Norris, Jack London, Henry James, Owen Wister, Robert Frost, and many others.
In Republic of Words, Susan Goodman brilliantly captures this emerging culture of arts, ideas, science, and literature of an America in its adolescence, as filtered through the intersecting lives and words of the best and brightest writers of the day. Through this lens, Goodman examines the life of the magazine from its emergence in 1857 through the 1920s.
In Republic of Words, Susan Goodman brilliantly captures this emerging culture of arts, ideas, science, and literature of an America in its adolescence, as filtered through the intersecting lives and words of the best and brightest writers of the day. Through this lens, Goodman examines the life of the magazine from its emergence in 1857 through the 1920s.
330 pages, Hardcover
First published September 27, 2011
3 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Susan Goodman
29 booksSusan Goodman is the H. Fletcher Brown Chair of Humanities Professor of English at the University of Delaware.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 3, 2011
Only just started this but already fascinated with this account of Atlantic Month writers from James Russell Lowell to Edna St. Vincent Millay, from Boston abolitionists to Greenwhich Village bohemians.
Despite having been founded by Boston Brahmins, THE ATLANTIC managed to be much more than elitist literary taste-maker. William Dean Howells brought in "western" writers like Twain to balance Henry James and Edith Wharton, and support for progressive women writers (like Jane Adams). Lots of great gossip in this history too.
Despite having been founded by Boston Brahmins, THE ATLANTIC managed to be much more than elitist literary taste-maker. William Dean Howells brought in "western" writers like Twain to balance Henry James and Edith Wharton, and support for progressive women writers (like Jane Adams). Lots of great gossip in this history too.
November 14, 2016
I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
Republic of Words takes the history of the Atlantic Monthly from its founding in 1857 to the late 1920s as a window on American intellectual life. Chapters are focused on one or more personalities -- writers who published in the Atlantic or editors at the periodical's helm. Some of the authors and editors are still famous today: Robert Lowell; Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, W. E. B. Du Bois. Others would be familiar to a student of the era, but perhaps less so to most modern readers: William Dean Howells; Lafcadio Hearn; Mary Austin. For me, a number of the famous authors were familiar names, along with a few of their works, but without much historical context. Republic of Words provides that context, quoting from authors' letters and diaries to show how the figures related to one another and how they caused and reacted to the cultural and political developments of their day.
In its reliance on episodic chapters, the book lacks a strong overarching narrative arc; the last chapter, which attempts to sum up the book, is the least effective (and least well edited). The book also lacks the depth and historical insight of say, Louis Menand's The Metaphysical Club, which focuses on a handful of turn of the century thinkers, or Carlos Baker's Emerson Among the Eccentrics, which focuses on the era of Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne. But it is also a faster read, and what the Republic of Words lacks in depth, it makes up in breadth. Its portraits provide a great armature for understanding the progression of liberal American thought from the generation of Emerson through the turn of the century to the 1920s. The book is well sourced, and will make a fine jumping off point for further reading, both of biographies of the most interesting writers, and of some of their works.
Republic of Words takes the history of the Atlantic Monthly from its founding in 1857 to the late 1920s as a window on American intellectual life. Chapters are focused on one or more personalities -- writers who published in the Atlantic or editors at the periodical's helm. Some of the authors and editors are still famous today: Robert Lowell; Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, W. E. B. Du Bois. Others would be familiar to a student of the era, but perhaps less so to most modern readers: William Dean Howells; Lafcadio Hearn; Mary Austin. For me, a number of the famous authors were familiar names, along with a few of their works, but without much historical context. Republic of Words provides that context, quoting from authors' letters and diaries to show how the figures related to one another and how they caused and reacted to the cultural and political developments of their day.
In its reliance on episodic chapters, the book lacks a strong overarching narrative arc; the last chapter, which attempts to sum up the book, is the least effective (and least well edited). The book also lacks the depth and historical insight of say, Louis Menand's The Metaphysical Club, which focuses on a handful of turn of the century thinkers, or Carlos Baker's Emerson Among the Eccentrics, which focuses on the era of Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne. But it is also a faster read, and what the Republic of Words lacks in depth, it makes up in breadth. Its portraits provide a great armature for understanding the progression of liberal American thought from the generation of Emerson through the turn of the century to the 1920s. The book is well sourced, and will make a fine jumping off point for further reading, both of biographies of the most interesting writers, and of some of their works.
January 14, 2012
Susan Goodman's Republic of Words: The Atlantic Monthly and Its Writers. Goodman focuses on the period from 1857 through 1925, from the beginning through the post-WWI era when the magazine found itself facing new rivals and a changing audience.
A short final chapter looks beyond the 1920s to the big changes faced by the magazine since then, including the move from its original Boston home to Washington, D.C. in 2005.
It certainly helps to have such an intriguing stable of writers to choose from: among those profiled here are Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry James, Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Robert Frost, W.E.B DuBois, and Amy Lowell (just to name a few).
Among the most interesting chapters are those by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1869 when she insinuated that Lord Byron had slept with his half-sister, the debates between Louis Agassiz and Asa Gray over scientific theory, and on Mark Twain's unintentional (and poorly-received) "roast" of the magazine's founders at a dinner celebrating John Greenleaf Whittier's 70th birthday.
A short final chapter looks beyond the 1920s to the big changes faced by the magazine since then, including the move from its original Boston home to Washington, D.C. in 2005.
It certainly helps to have such an intriguing stable of writers to choose from: among those profiled here are Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry James, Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Robert Frost, W.E.B DuBois, and Amy Lowell (just to name a few).
Among the most interesting chapters are those by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1869 when she insinuated that Lord Byron had slept with his half-sister, the debates between Louis Agassiz and Asa Gray over scientific theory, and on Mark Twain's unintentional (and poorly-received) "roast" of the magazine's founders at a dinner celebrating John Greenleaf Whittier's 70th birthday.
July 5, 2012
I find this book hard to define. At first, I thought Goodman was just showing the constellation of literary stars that surrounded the magazine through its early life. But the chapters then covered much more than the person they were ostensibly about. A discussion of a naturalist contributor would lead to discussion of other, sort-of-related writers. My one criticism is that I could not keep track of the editorship. It would have been good if Goodman had provided a brief chronology and a bit more depth into the styles of each editor. The various editors--important as they were--pop up and disappear pretty quickly.
February 1, 2012
Susan Goodman successfully acquaints readers with the inception of The Atlantic Monthly in 1857. Chapters outline strong ties between national historical events and the magazine's influence through its cadre of contributors.
Readers are enveloped in Bostonian life through Goodman's extensive knowledge and eloquent words. This is a must read for writers and avid readers alike.
Readers are enveloped in Bostonian life through Goodman's extensive knowledge and eloquent words. This is a must read for writers and avid readers alike.
November 24, 2012
This is a unique book and it showcases a plethora of authors featured in the Atlantic Monthly publication during the late 1800's and early 1900's and examines the magazine during this time period with enlightening a time before all of this technology absorbed our everyday thoughts and lives.
February 12, 2012
A fascinating book about American literary history and the intersection of the influences of these authors on each other and the American public. It is an enjoyable and quick read.
February 3, 2016
I won this booking a Goodreads First Reads contest.
The book is a bit too dry for me. I could not get into it despite my love of history. I am passing it on to another reader.
The book is a bit too dry for me. I could not get into it despite my love of history. I am passing it on to another reader.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews