Countering assumptions about early American print culture and
challenging our scholarly fixation on the novel, Jared Gardner
reimagines the early American magazine as a rich literary culture that
operated as a model for nation-building by celebrating editorship over
authorship and serving as a virtual salon in which citizens were invited
to share their different perspectives. The Rise and Fall of Early
American Magazine Culture reexamines early magazines and their reach to
show how magazine culture was multivocal and presented a porous
distinction between author and reader, as opposed to novel culture,
which imposed a one-sided authorial voice and restricted the agency of
the reader.