American Renaissance Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman [Paperback]

Book 1From Emerson to Thoreau
Book 2Hawthorne
Book 3Melville
Book 4Whitman

[Matthiessen's] exploration of the haunted mind of Hawthorne, of Emerson's integrity, of the mental hell in which Melville lived, of Whitman's schizophrenia, of Thoreau's chosen solitude, [has] produced a book unequaled in American critical writing. --The New Republic

Perhaps the most profound work of literary criticism on historical principles by any modern American. --Saturday Review

[Matthiessen's] exploration of the haunted mind of Hawthorne, of Emerson's integrity, of the mental hell in which Melville lived, of Whitman's schizophrenia, of Thoreau's chosen solitude, [has] produced a book unequaled in American critical writing. --The New Republic

Matthiessen has brought to light a rich and complex period....His comments on language and style, in addition to being discerning as criticism, become finally profound reflections on nineteenth-century American society. --Daniel Aaron,Kenyon Review