Reading the American Novel 1780-1865 provides valuable insights into
the evolution and diversity of fictional genres produced in the United
States from the late 18th century until the Civil War, and helps
introductory students to interpret and understand the fiction from this
popular period.
- Offers an overview of early fictional genres and introduces ways to
interpret them today
- Features in depth examinations of specific novels
- Explores the social and historical contexts of the time to help the
readers' understanding of the stories
- Explores questions of identity - about the novel, its 19th-century
readers, and the emerging structure of the United States - as an
important backdrop to understanding American fiction
- Profiles the major authors, including Louisa May Alcott, Charles
Brockden Brown, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman
Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, alongside less familiar writers such
as Fanny Fern, Caroline Kirkland, George Lippard, Catharine Sedgwick,
and E. D. E. N. Southworth
- Selected by Choice as a 2013 Outstanding Academic Title