Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father

"An amazing story [told] with clarity and intelligence ... colorful and insightful."—Martin Rubin, Los Angeles Times

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography 

Louisa May Alcott is known universally. Yet during Louisa's youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson—an eminent teacher and a friend of Emerson and Thoreau. He desired perfection, for the world and from his family. Louisa challenged him with her mercurial moods and yearnings for money and fame. The other prize she deeply coveted—her father's understanding—seemed hardest to win. This story of Bronson and Louisa's tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.

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Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father

"An amazing story [told] with clarity and intelligence ... colorful and insightful."—Martin Rubin, Los Angeles Times

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography 

Louisa May Alcott is known universally. Yet during Louisa's youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson—an eminent teacher and a friend of Emerson and Thoreau. He desired perfection, for the world and from his family. Louisa challenged him with her mercurial moods and yearnings for money and fame. The other prize she deeply coveted—her father's understanding—seemed hardest to win. This story of Bronson and Louisa's tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.

18.95 In Stock
Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father

Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father

by John Matteson
Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father

Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father

by John Matteson

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$18.95 

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Overview

"An amazing story [told] with clarity and intelligence ... colorful and insightful."—Martin Rubin, Los Angeles Times

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography 

Louisa May Alcott is known universally. Yet during Louisa's youth, the famous Alcott was her father, Bronson—an eminent teacher and a friend of Emerson and Thoreau. He desired perfection, for the world and from his family. Louisa challenged him with her mercurial moods and yearnings for money and fame. The other prize she deeply coveted—her father's understanding—seemed hardest to win. This story of Bronson and Louisa's tense yet loving relationship adds dimensions to Louisa's life, her work, and the relationships of fathers and daughters.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393077575
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 08/13/2010
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 512
Sales rank: 125,322
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

John Matteson was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for Eden’s Outcasts and is also the author of The Lives of Margaret Fuller, which received the Ann M. Sperber Prize for Best Biography of a Journalist. He has been a Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and of the Leon Levy Center for Biography. He received the Distinguished Faculty Award of the John Jay College Alumni Association and the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Achievement from the Columbia University School of Arts and Sciences. Distinguished Professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, he lives in the Bronx.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments     ix
Prologue: Disgrace     3
Beginnings     13
A Birthday in Germantown     39
The Temple School     55
"Orpheus at the Plough"     86
The Sowing of the Seeds     116
First Fruits     134
Lost Illusions     150
Father and Daughter     165
Destitution     196
Orchard House     233
War     260
Shadows and Sunlight     285
Journeys East and West     308
Miracles     334
"The Wise and Beautiful Truths of the Father"     355
"Come Up with Me"     400
Notes     429
Bibliography     465
Index     471
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