Beneath the American Renaissance
Subtitle: the subversive imagination in the age of Emerson and Melville
By: David S. Reynolds
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 625
ISBN-13: 9780199782840
Subjects: Contemporaries; Social norms in literature; Popular literature; Literature and society; History and criticism; American literature; Social problems in literature; Sensationalism in literature; History; Women in literature
Description: "The award-winning Beneath the American Renaissance is a classic work on American literature. It immeasurably broadens our knowledge of our most important literary period, as first identified by F.O. Matthiessen's American Renaissance. With its combination of sharp critical insight, engaging observation, and narrative drive, it represents the kind of masterful cultural history for which David Reynolds is known. Here the major works of Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, and Dickinson receive striking, original readings set against the rich backdrop of contemporary popular writing. Now back in print, the volume includes a new foreword by historian Sean Wilentz that reveals the book's impact and influence. A magisterial work of criticism and cultural history, Beneath the American Renaissance will fascinate anyone interested in the genesis of America's most significant literary epoch and the iconic figures who defined it."--
Notes: Originally published: 1988.

Includes bibliographical references and index.