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1 of 1 members found this review helpful.Mr. Alcott steps to center stage
“Although Louisa May Alcott gets top billing in the subtitle of "Eden's Outcasts," the real star of this wonderful double biography is her father, Bronson Alcott. He is a real citizen of the nineteenth century, and it is hard to imagine him existing in any other. A utopian, a friend of all the great Transcendentalists, a philosopher whose musings were virtually unreadable in his own time, a dreamer who could never provide for his own family, he had his share of flaws, some of which almost destroyed the family that was the true mainstay of his life. In his own time, his foibles left him open to mockery, and one can, at times, seem to feel his biographer, John Matteson, sigh with impatience as Bronson makes another unwise decision that will further burden his long-suffering wife, Abba, and the four daughters who will later, by Louisa's hand, be transformed into the March family of "Little Women.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-03-12.
Bronson Alcott was a man ahead of his time in any number of ways. He believed in the gentle and unforced teaching of children, in contrast to the rote learning and corporal punishment that was common. He espoused vegetarianism (he appears to have been a vegan) and believed that the cultivation of gardens was a source of spiritual, as well as nutritional, satisfaction. He championed the rights of women and was a fervent abolitionist. He eschewed religious doctrine and never abandoned his optimism that human beings could strive, however imperfectly, towards a kind of perfection. Not surprisingly, such a man was not easy to live with, and the difficulties his family endured as he struggled to formulate his ideals--at the Temple School, at Fruitlands, and on through a very long life--are wrenching.
They are also the points at which his life and his daughter's intersect. Matteson's account of Louisa's childhood and of her service as a Civil War nurse is engaging, but as she becomes a writer in adulthood, her biography becomes less interesting. Matteson gives sensitive readings of "Little Women" and "Little Men," but his accounts of her other works are of interest only for the light they shed on her family. I read "Little Women" more than once in my childhood, so I especially loved one detail in particular about Louisa.. "Little Women" was the "Harry Potter" of its day, and its fans inundated her with letters, pleas for autographs, and so on, an unwelcome intrusion that made her exceedingly cross. This author worship, the kind where the reading public cries out for "More!" of the same, was exactly the kind of adulation that Bronson craved all his life.” -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Quite good and informative
“This book taught me a lot about Transcendentalism and all the myriad connections among authors whom I might otherwise not have considered as part of a community. The narrative flows smoothly between Bronson Alcott and his more famous daughter, Louisa. Both help to illuminate the other. In the end one gets a very thorough portrait of a distinct time in New England history. I especially learned a lot about Louisa's role as a nurse in the Civil War and now intend to read her "Hospital Sketches."
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-03-04.
I can and do recommend this book.” -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Absorbed and Enthralled
“As a resident of Concord Massachusetts and an avid fan of all the great writers and transcendental thoughtleaders of the mid 19th Century, I began reading this book with high excitement... and it did not disappoint! Moreover, as the writer/father of a 15-year-old daughter who is also a terrific natural writer, I was absorbed by the relationship between Louisa and Bronson (both writers themselves) and enthralled by the details of life in Concord way back then. John Matteson has performed a brilliant service for all of us who care deeply about these wonderful, magical thinkers and dreamers during Concord's golden artistic age. If you are at all interested in this subject, your library will be lacking if you fail to include this book.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-01-19. -
2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
A lively tone accents facts and insights
“During Louisa May Alcott's youth her father was a contemporary of Emerson and Thoreau, and desired perfection for his family and life. Louisa challenged him with her moodiness and her longing for fame and wealth. Their stormy yet loving relationship is probed in EDEN'S OUTCASTS, a pick for both general-interest libraries strong in biography and for literary collections seeking a complete set of perspectives on writer Louisa May Alcott's influences and life. A lively tone accents facts and insights.
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-12-13.
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8 of 29 members found this review helpful.
Only for those that got an A in college english
“I bought this book because it won a Pulitzer prize. The voters for the Pulitzer must be in the upper echelon of literary taste because I found it dry, slow, and horribly uneventful. I can understand how some people would enjoy this book because the author, John Matteson, is a very good writer. I mean good writer in the sense that he could write SAT questions for the English portion of the test.
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-12-08.
I was disappointed in this book because I had just finished reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls which tells a true story of her interesting life. I was expecting something similar I suppose.
I was trying to think of people who might enjoy this book. Perhaps people that scored in the high 1500's on SAT tests. Definitely someone who is interested on Bronson Alcott's friends Thoreau and other philosophers.”
