Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life

(Paperback)

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Description

This is the first modern biography of the man who created and defined Victorian American culture. Calhouns Longfellow emerges as one of Americas first powerful cultural makers: a poet and teacher who helped define Victorian culture; a major conduit for European culture coming into America; a catalyst for the Colonial Revival movement in architecture and interior design; and a critic of both Puritanism and the American obsession with material success.

Reviews

"A sprightly, long-needed biography of 19th-century America's most famous, myth-making poet . . . An enormously sympathetic portrait of a universally admired gentleman [that] could well encourage a new generation to read Longfellow."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Masterful . . . warm and vivid . . . and solid in placing [Longfellow] in the context of [his] times."--Michael Kenney, Boston Sunday Globe

"Calhoun's biography is commendable. . . His defense of Longfellow's poetry is all the more forceful for never being overstated."--Frank Wilson, Philadelphia Inquirer

"[A] sympathetic and welcome biography. . . Calhoun has written a fine book."--Patrick J. Walsh, Christian Science Monitor

"[A] readable, informative biography. . . Longfellow became for his day an international icon of literature and civility."--Tony Lewis, Providence Sunday Journal

Author Bio

Born in Louisiana, Charles C. Calhoun studied history at the University of Virginia and law at Christ Church, Oxford. He divides his time between Boston and Portland, Maine, where he is on the staff of the Maine Humanities Council.