Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Nonfiction Reader [Paperback]

Larry Ceplair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0231076177 | ISBN-13: 978-0231076173 | Edition: First Printing

I have nothing to offer the world but what I think...I think that the thing that I am here to do is a big thing - the truth. I see deep basic truths; and that I have been given unusual powers of expression. I truly hope that my life will count for much good in the world. - letter to George Houghton Gilman, May 11, 1897. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is best known as the author of the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" and a utopian novel, "Herland", but she also wrote six nonfiction books and hundreds of articles and lectures. Arguably one of the most radical and certainly one of the most original thinkers of her era, Gilman (1860-1935) is missing from the male-authored intellectual histories and biographies of the period. This reader is an effort to fill that gap, offering a representative sample of her nonfiction writing. Presented chronologically, these selections emphasize her thoughts on gender, evolution, economics, radical political movements, and women's groups. Each chapter begins with an exploration of her life during the years covered and a discussion of contemporary intellectual, social, and political developments.

Product Details

• Paperback: 345 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; First Printing edition (November 18, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231076177
• ISBN-13: 978-0231076173
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent background for Gilman studies, August 10, 2011

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Sophie26 (Montana) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A Nonfiction Reader (Paperback)

I taught a short course on "Reading Gilman," and chose this and the Penguin fiction anthology. Ceplair's book gives an excellent overview of Gilman's life and work, with an emphasis on her nonfiction work that is not available from other sources. I'm not a Gilman scholar so I can't speak to the choice of pieces he includes in the book, but the introductions and biographical notes are very well written and make an easy read for both graduate and undergraduate students. He presents Gilman's contradictory and complex thought sensitively and with compassion.