Hamlin Garland

This account is the true coming-of-age odyssey of a farm boy who - informed by the full brute force of a homesteader's life on the vast unbroken prairie - would become a pre-eminent American writer of the early 20th century. Pulitzer Prize winner Hamlin Garland recounts in this captivating autobiography his journey from a rural childhood to the study of literature and the sciences in Boston, his vital connections with such inspirations as William Howells and eventually his reclaimed sense of identity as a writer of the Midwest's beautiful yet hard land.

Hamlin Garland: A Biography is a comprehensive account of the life and work of Hamlin Garland, an American author and literary figure of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Written by Jean Holloway, a scholar and expert on Garland's work, the book traces the author's life from his humble beginnings in rural Wisconsin to his rise to fame as a writer, social critic, and advocate for the arts.The biography explores Garland's early years, including his struggles with poverty and his early literary efforts, as well as his years as a journalist and his eventual success as a novelist and essayist. It also delves into his personal life, including his relationships with family, friends, and colleagues, and his ongoing battles with depression and alcoholism.Throughout the book, Holloway provides insightful analysis of Garland's literary output, including his groundbreaking works of realism and naturalism, his contributions to the development of the American short story, and his pioneering efforts to bring attention to the plight of Midwestern farmers and workers.Drawing on extensive research and interviews with Garland's family and friends, Hamlin Garland: A Biography is a fascinating and engaging portrait of one of America's most important literary figures. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of American literature, as well as those seeking insight into the life and work of this complex and influential writer.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

"I am a reformer--a radical--a promoter of Democracy. . . .”--Hamlin Garland to Horace Traubel, 13 January 1892 As a self-proclaimed native "son of the middle border" states of Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota, Hamlin Garland wrote short stories, novels, and essays about the harsh realities of farm life. At a time when rural romanticism was in literary vogue, he described conditions for midwestern farmers as they really were and promoted a wide variety of reforms to improve their lives, including women's rights legislation and single-tax reform.The volume reprints much of Garland's radical fiction and nonfiction from between 1887 and 1894, almost all previously uncollected, including four of his most outspoken stories depicting farm conditions of the time. Fueled by moral outrage and a cry for justice shaped by his own family's hardships in Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota, the radical writing of his early career is filled with compassion and fury. Seeking to reinvigorate an appreciation and understanding of Garland's centrality in the rise of a post–Civil War radical spirit in American expression, this collection assembles the most vibrant and representative examples of his radical 1890s writings.

Hamlin Garland, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of more than forty books, was a central figure in American literary life for half a century. He was intimately involved with many of the major literary, social, and artistic movements in American culture, and his extensive correspondence with the intellectual leaders of American culture was almost unparalleled in scope. This volume brings together a rich, representative sample of Garland's letters. They are addressed to an impressive roster of individuals: Samuel Clemens, William Dean Howells, Walt Whitman, Zona Gale, Theodore Roosevelt, Van Wyck Brooks, Howard Mumford Jones, Brander Matthews, Stephen Crane, George Washington Cable, and many others. The letters touch on an equally broad range of subjects, from the U.S. government's reprehensible treatment of Native Americans to environmental issues to the major literary figures and controversies of Garland's day.Frank, opinionated, and wide-ranging, Garland's letters provide a valuable and entertaining portrait of American cultural and intellectual life in the years between 1890 and 1940.