The Annotated Charlotte's Web

About this book

"Probably the most exciting article ever published in The Horn Book " announced that magazines publicity release when in 1982 Peter Neumeyer wrote his two-part series on the evolution of E. B. Whites Charlottes Web from manuscript to finished book. Charlottes Web may be Americas best-loved childrens book today seamless in plot poignant in its delineation of characters who will live in American childrens literature forever and written with a seeming ease and fluency that make the reading as engrossing as it is effortless. In fact E. B. White labored tirelessly over eight manuscript drafts researched thoroughly the habits of spiders and meditated on the habits of pigs. En route he corresponded with editors filmmakers and friends as well as fulfilling his role as a distinguished writer for The New Yorker. The Annotated Charlottes Web picks up these threads opens the door to the creators workshop and allows the reader to glance over the shoulder of one of the most exacting and fastidious American writers watching as he forms his masterpiece. The Annotated Charlottes Web sheds light on the books origins its allusions its deliberate construction as well as on the life of its sometimes elusive author. It sets the novel in the context of other books of its type. Included are information from Whites eight manuscript drafts cross-references to other writings by E. B. White letters between White and his editors documents from the critical reception of Charlottes Web and general literary-cultural commentary tying the book to its traditions. For over forty years this great American novel has thrived without annotation. Now however these selected insights can bring us closer to the books author enrich our reading of the book and shed a measure of light on the artistic process itself.