Sunday, February 27, 2011

What I'm Reading: A New Louisa May Alcott Biography

In a shocking turn of events, I am reading a biography about a spinster.


Louisa May Alcott has been one of my favorite authors since I read Little Women in third grade. Alcott was actually a very interesting person who lived in a very interesting time and place. She had a crazy upbringing filled with deprivation and hardship among the Transcendentalists, yet she grew up to be a prolific and successful writer. She wrote "blood and thunder tales" -- pulp fiction -- in addition to more "proper" stories for children and adults alike.

In Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, Harriet Reisen shows us the people and events that shaped Alcott as a person and as a writer. Reisen shows how Alcott's writings were based on her life, and we learn about the real people and experiences behind the tales.

I'm really enjoying it, but then, I love all things Alcott. Which is saying a lot, considering the fact that after 40 years I'm still pissed because she married Laurie off to that drip Amy.

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