Susan Cheever's latest work brings new life to the well-known literary personages who produced such cherished works as "The Scarlet Letter," "Moby-Dick," "Walden," and "Little Women." She reacquaints us with personal lives of Concord's nineteenth-century intellectuals, restoring in three dimensions the literary personalities whose work is at the heart of America's national history and cultural identity.
Critic Reviews
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Outstanding
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Library Journal Anthony Pucci
Through [Cheever's] masterly storytelling, Alcott, Emerson, Fuller, Hawthorne, and Thoreau come alive as individuals, their strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and dreams and doubts exposed. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in American letters. [1 Nov 2006, p.77]
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Favorable
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Publishers Weekly Wendy Smith
Cheever keenly analyzes the positive and negative ways they influenced one another's ideas and beliefs and the literature that came out of "this sudden outbreak of genius." [25 Sep 2006, p.33]
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Favorable
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Booklist Gilbert Taylor
Emotionally warm and critically engaged, Cheever's history successfully evokes the incubation of Concord's literary glory. [1 Jan 2007, p.41]
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Favorable
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Boston Globe James Sullivan
If you can take your literary history with a pinch of irreverent salt, then American Bloomsbury is an easily digested retelling of the oft-told story.
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Favorable
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Christian Science Monitor Marjorie Kehe
Don't hand this book to a scholar. But do share it with anyone who may...welcome a brisk new take on a fascinating old story.
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Favorable
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San Francisco Chronicle Heller McAlpin
Cheever's decision to eschew a straightforward chronological timeline in favor of a "series of overlapping scenes in which some incidents are repeated, sometimes more than once" has resulted in a repetitive but still gem-strewn jumble.
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Favorable
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USA Today Jocelyn McClurg
American Bloomsbury is often a very charming book. Call it "Concord 101." It's an affectionate, lively and decidedly non-academic introduction to the men and women whose writings are among the most important in the American canon.
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Mixed
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Washington Post Kit Bakke
Unfortunately, the book's haphazard pastiche of stories diminishes its ability to improve our understanding of these amazing Americans. None of the gossip is new or infused with fresh insight.
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Mixed
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Chicago Tribune Art Winslow
Cheever is opinionated and a bit of a heavy breather at times.
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Unfavorable
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Los Angeles Times Matthew Price
Susan Cheever doesn't add much to our understanding of the time. From its misleading title to her gushing prose and off-key readings of Thoreau and company, the book suffers from the flaws that give middlebrow writing a bad name.
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Unfavorable
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Kirkus Reviews
Despite the best intentions, this literary portrait does a disservice to the intellects it seeks to honor. [1 Oct 2006, p.997]
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Unfavorable
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Wall Street Journal David Propson
It's not surprising to discover that American Bloomsbury began as an introduction to an edition of Alcott's ["Little Women"]. Unfortunately, it remains little more than an introduction.
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