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American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx
Knopf
February 2009
On Sale: February 24, 2009
608 pages ISBN: 1400041236 EAN: 9781400041237 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
A Jury of Her Peers is an unprecedented literary landmark:
the first comprehensive history of American women writers
from 1650 to 2000. In a narrative of immense scope and fascination—brimming
with Elaine Showalter’s characteristic wit and incisive
opinions—we are introduced to more than 250 female writers.
These include not only famous and expected names (Harriet
Beecher Stowe, Willa Cather, Dorothy Parker, Flannery
O’Connor, Gwendolyn Brooks, Grace Paley, Toni Morrison, and
Jodi Picoult among them), but also many who were once
successful and acclaimed yet now are little known, from the
early American best-selling novelist Catherine Sedgwick to
the Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Susan Glaspell.
Showalter shows how these writers—both the enduring stars
and the ones left behind by the canon—were connected to one
another and to their times. She believes it is high time to
fully integrate the contributions of women into our
American literary heritage, and she undertakes the task
with brilliance and flair, making the case for the unfairly
overlooked and putting the overrated firmly in their place. Whether or not readers agree with the book’s roster of
writers, A Jury of Her Peers is an irresistible invitation
to join the debate, to discover long-lost great writers,
and to return to familiar titles with a deeper
appreciation. It is a monumental work that will greatly
enrich our understanding of American literary history and
culture.
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