Lafcadio Hearn: American Writings (Library of America, No. 190) [Hardcover]

Lafcadio Hearn (Author), Christopher Benfey (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2009

A singular figure in American letters, Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) had a life as complex as his heritage: born on a Greek isle of a Greek mother and an English father, raised in Europe, he made his name as a writer in the United States before settling permanently in Japan. Steeped in a decadent style, deeply interested in folk traditions (notably voodoo), Hearn has a keenly observant eye for the offbeat, the sensual, and the gruesome. In novels such as Chita, about a devastating tropical tidal wave, and Youma, about a slave rebellion in Martinique, as well as in a wealth of journalistic reports, Hearn left unrivaled first-hand portraits of the black and creole cultures of New Orleans, Cincinnati, and the French West Indies. His extraordinary travel book Two Years in the French West Indies is presented here with its original illustrations. Some Chinese Ghosts, a stylized retelling of ancient legends, foreshadows his later fascination with Asian themes. The volume is rounded out with a revealing selection of impassioned letters, eight of which are published unexpurgated here for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Benfey , editor, is Mellon Professor of English at Mount Holyoke. His books include The Double Life of Stephen Crane (1992), Degas in New Orleans (1997), The Great Wave (2003), and, most recently,A Summer of Hummingbirds (Penguin Press, 2008).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 900 pages
• Publisher: Library of America (March 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598530399
• ISBN-13: 978-1598530391
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,051,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Collection from Hearn's American Years, December 3, 2009

By 

Kevin M. Derby (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lafcadio Hearn: American Writings (Library of America, No. 190) (Hardcover)

Lafcadio Hearn is an odd choice for the Library of America to be raising to the Mt. Olympus of American literature. Born on a Greek isle, raised and educated in Ireland, now in Cincinnati of all places, off to New Orleans, now to the West Indies, then off to Japan, Hearn truly earned the title of a recent biography on him "Wandering Ghost." The LOA edition of Hearn contains his writing from his time in the US and in the West Indies. This collection shows how diverse Hearn was as a writer as all of the following are included: translations of traditional Japanese tales; accounts of the river workers on the Ohio, reflections on snow, the account of a murderer being hung, notes on African-American dances, looks at odd societies in small Louisiana villages, accounts of Martinique, a conversation with a woman and her experiences with spirits from beyond, novels about tropical storms and slave rebellions in the isles, letters to his friends, and many other topics and materials. Most writers could not pull this off. Hearn masterfully writes about all of these subjects with grace, humor and style. While the works he wrote in Japan are not included, this book gives the reader an excellent introduction to Hearn's versatility and ability as a writer and the reader enjoys some great entertainment to boot. Highly recommended.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars valuable, April 28, 2009

By 

W. Hamilton (NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lafcadio Hearn: American Writings (Library of America, No. 190) (Hardcover)

Hearn's "American" writings are little known compared to his later Japanese studies, but they are invaluable for an understanding of the man - and fascinating in their own right. The only reservation about this volume concerns the apparent abridgements, which are not clearly indicated nor explained.