Truth's Ragged Edge: The Rise of the American Novel

by Philip F. Gura

From the acclaimed cultural historian Philip F. Gura comes Truth's Ragged Edge , a comprehensive and original history of the American novel's first century. Grounded in Gura's extensive consideration of the diverse range of important early novels, not just those that remain widely read today, this book recovers many long-neglected but influential writers―such as the escaped slave Harriet Jacobs, the free black Philadelphian Frank J. Webb, and the irrepressible John Neal―to paint a complete and authoritative portrait of the era. Gura also gives us the key to understanding what sets the early novel apart, arguing that it is distinguished by its roots in "the fundamental religiosity of American life." Our nation's pioneering novelists, it turns out, wrote less in the service of art than of morality.

This history begins with a series of the very first American novel, William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy , published in 1789; the first bestsellers, Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple and Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette , novels that were, like Brown's, cautionary tales of seduction and betrayal; and the first native genre, religious tracts, which were parables intended to instruct the Christian reader. Gura shows that the novel did not leave behind its proselytizing purpose, even as it evolved. We see Catharine Maria Sedgwick in the 1820s conceiving of A New-England Tale as a critique of Puritanism's harsh strictures, as well as novelists pushing secular George Lippard's The Quaker City , from 1844, was a dark warning about growing social inequality. In the next decade certain writers―Hawthorne and Melville most famously―began to depict interiority and doubt, and in doing so nurtured a broader cultural shift, from social concern to individualism, from faith in a distant god to faith in the self.

Rich in subplots and detail, Gura's narrative includes enlightening discussions of the technologies that modernized publishing and allowed for the printing of novels on a mass scale, and of the lively cultural journals and literary salons of early nineteenth-century New York and Boston. A book for the reader of history no less than the reader of fiction, Truth's Ragged Edge ―the title drawn from a phrase in Melville, about the ambiguity of truth―is an indispensable guide to the fascinating, unexpected origins of the American novel.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Books About Books, Literature, Writing, American History

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2013

Reviews

[sslyb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rise of the American Novel from Joseph Morgan (1715) to Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1877). After that read Patriotic Gore by Edmund Wilson to continue the study American Literature

[Christopher Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give Gura's book three stars, but I do so with a huge caveat. His book is aimed at an audience who knows precious little about early America in terms of her history, her literature, or her authors. I say this because Gura spends so much time engaging in basic summary, be that author biography or plot recap. And yet, because Gura seems to have an uninitiated reader in his sights, this book would be excellent for undergraduate and graduate students of early American literature, as well as the scholar who doesn't specialize in American literature pre-20th century but needs an astute encapsulation of the period as reference. However, if you have already managed to learn about Susanna Rowson, Charles Brockden Brown, Harriet Jacobs, etc., and their signature novels before taking up this book, Gura's text will do little more than refresh your memory. I applaud the task of connecting the dots of America's early literary history, but it's stunning to me that a scholar of Gura's stature would engage in such sophomoric summarizing throughout the majority of Truth's Ragged Edge.

[Elin · Rating 4 out of 5]

book from first reads.

a sweeping study. i like the thesis.

[Simón · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated the generous summaries of novels, as if I'm not likely to read them, I learned a lot about them, and for ones I might be interested in, I'm able to be piqued.

There were a few ideas in this book, such as the novel's development of Christianity's crisis of free will as well as democracy's crisis of the social body vs. the individual. My favorite sections were about women's navigation of limited opportunity for self-actualization and the role of African American characters in representing the possibility of redemption. I found that some parts seemed to be straight-washed, like Melville's remarkable relationship with Hawthorne, and several of the women authors who didn't marry and ended up cohabitating with other women. It seemed to exist in a world where same sex desire didn't exist? Which seems odd considering that it tried to be sensitive to romance between people of different races and other censored subjects like sex outside of marriage.

Beyond the technologies of publication (American presses, religious tracts, magazines and quarterlies), I would have liked more on the structure and technique of the novels. Maybe that's too difficult to do justice while trying to cover dozens of novels? Only with Moby-Dick and Stoddard's novels do we get a sense for the way that language creates consciousness and character.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gura's book highlights the less prominent fiction writers of early America, although the renowned Harriet Beecher Stowe, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville are given their due. The author's discussion focuses on the tug of war between the writers who believed in continuing the Puritan tradition and those who spun stories of self-determination. Notably, Gura focuses on a number of women writers who shaped the trajectory of the American novel -- individuals such as Catherine Sedgwick, Rebecca Harding Davis, Sara Parton Willis, African American Harriet Jacobs, and Elizabeth Barstow Stoddard. Throughout the book, he provides detailed plot summaries to show how various authors contributed to subtle and profound shifts in narrative style. For anyone who is curious about the history of the novel in the U.S., Gura's book takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the first century of book authorship.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the descriptions of the story and specifically the 8th chapter hit hard. There's some fantastic quotes riddled throughout and it's great if you are familiar with the field but not yet well versed. Really enjoyed it as a passive read throughout the semester as I also am taking a class of his! The way he describes history (specifically the authors and the intentions with their stories) is extremely engaging and immersive. I read this book as I wanted more info on his thesis of the rise of the American Novel.

[Andrew]

Valuable for its summaries of many works that remain understudied and—in some cases—still barely known except by specialists. The rickety argument which Gura attempts to assemble about religious liberalism's deleterious effects can be completely ignored.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed look at the rise and development of the American novel from 1789 through the 1870s. This book explores the input that religion had on the art, including those writers usually ignored, women and persons of color. From the early novels that sought to teach life lessons to a gradual widening of the religious beliefs and mores of the time, we see how the freedoms of the country began to affect the literature of the day.

This was a book received from Goodreads giveaways and I couldn't be happier to have received this one. The content is easy to digest, yet extremely informative. You're introduced to writers and books that fell by the wayside over the years, yet were popular at the time of their publication. If you have an interest in early American literature or how a change in the beliefs of the people can affect the novels they read, this is the book for you. 4.5 out of 5.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating.