Alternative Alcott by Louisa May Alcott (American Women Writers) [Paperback]

Elaine Showalter (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1988 | Series: American Women Writers

The discovery in recent years of Louisa May Alcott's pseudonymous sensation stories has made readers and scholars increasingly aware of her accomplishments beyond her most famous novel, Little Women, one of the great international best-sellers of all time. What has been recovered throws new light on the children's books and asks us to question our assumptions about the suposedly staid and sentimental Alcott. Alternative Alcott includes works never before reprinted, including "How I Went Out to Service," "My Contraband," and "Psyche's Art." It also contains Behind a Mask, her most important sensation story; the full and correct text of her last unfinished novel, Diana and Persis; "Transcendental Wild Oats"; Hospital Sketches; and Alcott's other important texts on nineteenth-century social history. This anthology brings together for the first time a variety of Louisa May Alcott's journalistic, satiric, feminist, and sensation texts. Elaine Showalter has provided an excellent introduction and notes to the collection.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Alcott's pseudonymous sensation stories have only recently been discovered; along with her adult novels, historical and feminist essays, and memoir of the failed communal experiment that was her childhood, they show us that there was indeed and "alternative Alcott." This volume reprints much of Alcott's "alternative" fiction, including the satirical Transcendental Wild Oats. Though brilliant, Showalter's introduction is at times excessively Freudian and speculative; literature can and must stand on its own. Still, this is a highly pertinent anthology. Marc Widershien, State Lib. of Massachusetts
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Brings together for the first time in a single volume a broad selection of Alcott's thrillers, satirical narratives and feminist works." -- Choice

"This series is an ambitious, exciting, and highly valuable contribution to the reclamation of American women's lost literature." -- Joyce Carol Oates

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (February 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813512727
• ISBN-13: 978-0813512723
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,016,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually, she was sarcastic all along..., November 22, 2010

By 

R. Zoellner (Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Alternative Alcott by Louisa May Alcott (American Women Writers) (Paperback)

Alternative Alcott is an interesting collection of Louisa May Alcott's less well-known works. Elaine Showalter has arranged and selected the pieces, and while I am always glad to read more by good authors, I thought it was weird how she sometimes cut parts out of novellas, or only presented excerpts of certain works. Of course, it already is a long and oddly heavy book as it is, but one does wonder about the reason for such exclusions. At any rate, this is overall an excellent find for either fans of Alcott, or those not quite pleased with the sentimental nature of Little Women. This book contains some less child-friendly works, and at least one, Behind a Mask, that is composed almost entirely out of savage sarcasm.

Generally, I found reading Alternative Alcott to be rather like riffling through the author's desk and reading unpublished or incomplete works in no particular order. I did find the introductory information on Alcott's life to be interesting, if a bit heavy on speculation about her personal life or possible romantic interests. Though considering how much self-insertion there is in her stories, one does wonder how much Alcott was like her characters, or what was going on behind the scenes. Showalter seems to have some kind of lesbian agenda or angle on the author, but all I could gather for sure from reading the stories is that if Alcott never worked as an actress for a year or so under an alias, she sure wished she had. And really, what more do we need to know about her than that factoid?

Basically, this is one of those very sturdy softcover books one expects to encounter in a library or university class, for which it would be a very good addition. But really, why stop there? It's got potential as a gift item for fans of Little Women or any other classic author. Or you could read it yourself, or something crazy like that. Just pick and choose the good ones, that is the joy of short story collections.