A definitive new biography of James Fenimore Cooper, early nineteenth-century master of American popular fiction
"It will be the definitive biography and foremost study of Cooper’s fiction and nonfiction for the foreseeable future.”— Allan Axelrad, California State University, Fullerton
American author James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) has been credited with inventing and popularizing a wide variety of genre fiction, including the Western, the spy novel, the high seas adventure tale, and the Revolutionary War romance. America’s first crusading novelist, Cooper reminds us that literature is not a cloistered art; rather, it ought to be intimately engaged with the world.
In this second volume of his definitive biography, Wayne Franklin concentrates on the latter half of Cooper’s life, detailing a period of personal and political controversy, far-ranging international travel, and prolific literary creation. We hear of Cooper’s progressive views on race and slavery, his doubts about American expansionism, and his concern about the future prospects of the American Republic, while observing how his groundbreaking career management paved the way for later novelists to make a living through their writing. Franklin offers readers the most comprehensive portrait to date of this underappreciated American literary icon.
- ISBN10 0300135718
- ISBN13 9780300135718
- Publish Date 25 April 2017 (first published 26 July 2007)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Yale University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 840
- Language English
- URL http://wiley.com/remtitle.cgi?isbn=9780300135718