Beneath the American Renaissance: The Subversive Imagination in the Age of Emerson and Melville

Beneath the American Renaissance: The Subversive Imagination in the Age of Emerson and Melville by Reynolds, David S.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780199782840.

The award-winning Beneath the American Renaissance is a classic work on American literature. It immeasurably broadens our knowledge of our most important literary period, as first identified by F.O. Matthiessens American Renaissance. With its combination of sharp critical insight, engaging observation, and narrative drive, it represents the kind of masterful cultural history for which David Reynolds is known. Here the major works of Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, and Dickinson receive striking, original readings set against the rich backdrop of contemporary popular writing. Now back in print, the volume includes a new foreword by historian Sean Wilentz that reveals the books impact and influence. A magisterial work of criticism and cultural history, Beneath the American Renaissance will fascinate anyone interested in the genesis of Americas most significant literary epoch and the iconic figures who defined it.