The Erie Canal Reader, 1790-1950 [Paperback]

Roger W. Hecht (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

The Erie Canal Reader - poems, essays, travelogues, and fiction by major American and British writersdashcaptures the colorful landscape and life along the Erie Canal from its birth in the New York frontier, through its heyday as a passage of culture and commerce, to its present decline into disuse.

Part celebration of the men and women who worked its waters and part social observation, these writings by such figures as Basil Hall, Frances Trollope, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, and others provide first-hand observations of the canal country and its role in the evolution of American social and economic culture from frontier to industrial prominence. In addition to depictions of canal life, the pieces offer glimpses of early tourist resorts, like Trenton Falls, and observations of religious experiments that made New York's "burned over district" a hotbed of social and political reform. Also included are works by the most prominent Erie Canal writers, Walter D. Edmonds and Samuel Hopkins Adams, whose stories and novels bring a modern sensibility and insight to their reflections on the canal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 169 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr (Sd); 1 edition (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815607598
• ISBN-13: 978-0815607595
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,752,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book sinks!, September 22, 2005

By 

Siwash (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Erie Canal Reader, 1790-1950 (Paperback)

This is a title that could've and should've been a major delight for readers. It should have contained all sorts of items connected with the canal---copies of old engravings, bills of lading, average citizen letters, cartoons and engineering drawings, a review of the source of canal workers, how land sales were stimulated and other economic impacts, an image of the state bond that funded it, a look at political impacts, business news/businesses that used it, a usable distance chart, an idea of how its active life came to an end, etc. This could have been an appealing potpourri, but it doesn't even contain the words to that song about the Erie Canal.

Instead, it's just a few items judged to have high literary merit and is only about 176 pages long. This is a disappointment; the author had a subject and title that could have been built into something much more substantial and valuable. I feel Syracuse University Press should give me a refund.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lively and inspirational portrait of canal life, October 8, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Erie Canal Reader, 1790-1950 (Paperback)

Compiled, edited, and featuring an Introduction by Roger W. Hecht (Ithaca College), The Erie Canal Reader 1790-1950 is a compendium of poems, essays, travelogues, and fiction drawn from American and British writers and which offer a pristine picture of the New York frontier. The words and writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, and many more offer a lively and inspirational portrait of canal life, early tourist resorts, religious movements, as well as a simple sense and sensibility concerning the area and the people who lived and worked in it. An excellent leisure read or vacation souvenir book, The Erie Canal Reader 1790-1950 is very highly recommended for academic and community library American Regional History & Literature collections and reading lists.