Domestic Manners of the Americans (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Fanny Trollope (Author), Pamela Neville-Sington (Editor) "On the 4th of November, 1827, I sailed from London, accompanied by my son and two daughters; and after a favorable, though somewhat tedious voyage,..." (more)
Key Phrases: domestic manners, New York, United States, New Orleans (more...)

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Product Description
When Fanny Trollope set sail for America in 1827 with hopes of joining a Utopian community of emancipated slaves, she took with her three of her children and a young French artist, leaving behind her son Anthony, growing debts, and a husband going slowly mad from mercury poisoning. But what followed was a tragicomedy of illness, scandal, and failed business ventures. Nevertheless, on her return to England, Fanny turned her misfortunes into a remarkable book. A masterpiece of nineteenth-century travel-writing, "Domestic Manners of the Americans" is a vivid and hugely witty satirical account of a nation and was a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140435611
• ISBN-13: 978-0140435610
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #143,044 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, April 3, 2002

By	Judith C. Kinney (Westerville, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is both a great read and an important historical document. Fanny Trollope was the mother of Anthony Trollope, perhaps the most prolific English novelist of the nineteenth century and my favorite. Fanny's husband was ineffectual in the breadwinning department, but fortunately for the family, Fanny herself was energetic and enterprising. She took one of her sons (not Anthony) and an artistic young man to the United States. She was planning to join a friend of hers who was a mover in setting up the utopian community in Harmony, Indiana, but the place turned out to be squalid, and she didn't stay long.

Fanny spent most of her time in the U.S. in Cincinnati and in her book is very hard on the city and its inhabitants. She especially objected to the pigs' role as garbage collectors. (In those days, pigs roamed the streets freely, like sheep grazing.) Fanny felt most of the people she encountered were loud, dirty, vulgar, and fanatically patriotic. It is her vivid descriptions of the physical conditions and the people that give this book its historical and entertainment value.

While she was living in Cinci, she opened a retail emporium and filled it with rather shoddy merchandise sent from England by her husband. She also attempted to bring culture to the inhabitants. Not surprisingly, both ventures failed.

After Mrs. Trollope returned to England, she supported her family by writing novels that were quite popular at the time, though they haven't become the classics her son's have. She spent her final years living in Italy with another son and his wife.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written commentary on American manners, April 12, 1999

By A Customer

This is an extremely entertaining commentary on American manners and well written. I agree, however, with Mrs. Trollope's son, Anthony, who commented that Mrs. Trollope is a keen observer but she understands little. Certainly her complaints about the lack of gentility among Americans is valid but she completely missed the wonderful lack of class restraints endemic to English society which afforded Americans "class mobility"--freedom of opportunity (except for native Americans and slaves).

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quit the griping, it's a great, funny book!, March 7, 2002

By A Customer

Very entertaining read of the author's trip through 19th Century America, full of wonderful description and enlightening observations. Despite the griping below, Mrs Trollope simply reports what she sees - men spitting tobacco on the floor, ladies off in another room while the guys have a good time, etc. She reports accurately on our forefathers' rugged pioneer spirit, but points out the lack of education everywhere. We want to shout "lies!" but Mark Twain wrote about the same thing, and the aspects of our society that haven't changed much are still being commented on with the same frankness by writers like Saul Bellow, Gore Vidal, Dawn Powell, Paul Theroux and Joan Didion. Many true-hearted Americans will enjoy this book no end. Mrs Trollope clearly loved America and simply wrote truthfully about; she is simply beholden to no one - the essence of good writing. A thoroughly refreshing read.