Description
Book SynopsisMark Edmundson finds in Walt Whitman’s
Song of Myself the evolution of a democratic spirit, for the individual and the nation. Breaking from the past literature he saw as “feudal”—obsessed with the noble and great—Whitman created a story of commonplace egalitarian selfhood, a story he lived as a hospital volunteer during the Civil War.
Trade ReviewWhat better way to imbibe the intoxicating stanzas of Walt Whitman’s
Song of Myself than in the company of Mark Edmundson, author of the brilliantly argued
Why Read? In
Song of Ourselves Edmundson explicates and amplifies Whitman’s great wake-up call with an exuberant tenderness reached through decades of study and teaching. Here you will find our American
ur-text, Whitman’s irreverent bible of New World democracy, revealed. -- Megan Marshall, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning
Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and
Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for BreakfastAccessible, conversational, thoughtful, and eloquent, Edmundson has found his wonderfully distinctive and compelling voice in a book that is fascinated by democracy, fellow-feeling, sympathy, imagination, tyranny, and hierarchy.
Song of Ourselves is one of the great books about literature, partly because it is about so much more than literature. -- Adam Phillips, author of
On Wanting to ChangeThere could be no better time than the present for Mark Edmundson’s tribute and guide to Walt Whitman.
Song of Ourselves is a stirring and worthy evocation of the great poet of American democracy. Edmundson inhabits Whitman. Edmundson is Whitman’s companion, as Whitman is ours through all of our vexations, taking stock of multitudes still to come. -- Todd Gitlin, author of
The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage‘What of Walt can we use?’ Mark Edmundson asks urgently in
Song of Ourselves. This lyrical, forthright, and intimate book pays tribute to Whitman in a thoroughly Whitmanian spirit, guiding us through a revelatory reading of
Song of Myself and the poem’s fulfillment in Whitman’s experience of tending wounded soldiers in Civil War hospitals. Edmundson has composed a learned and unpretentious hymn to democracy and its greatest American bard. -- Rosanna Warren, author of
Max Jacob: A Life in Art and LettersMark Edmundson’s portrait of Walt Whitman proves that our greatest poet is also an essential spiritual guide for twenty-first-century America. With his moving account of Whitman’s visiting the Civil War wounded, as well as his reading of
Song of Myself, Edmundson makes a resounding case for the humane, democratic sympathy we now need so much. -- David Mikics, author of
Slow Reading in a Hurried Age and editor of
The Annotated EmersonWhitman was a great sage, a wise man, a mage, but he would have been happier with a simpler term. Perhaps just a friend, someone who might take your hand and point out the path. And that is exactly what Mark Edmundson does in this ecstatic book: he gives us a visionary glimpse of Whitman’s own vision.
Song of Ourselves is a book about why we need to read Whitman
now, by a writer as large-souled as his subject. -- Michael Gorra, author of
The Saddest Words: William Faulkner’s Civil War‘Song of Myself’ is a challenging poem to describe, let alone interpret. Edmundson does both masterfully…The style is welcoming and informal, his wide-ranging parenthetical references (to Plato, Freud, Derrida, etc.) make the experience of reading the book more like dropping into his classroom. Like many of the best teachers, Edmundson radiates enthusiasm for his subject. -- Ian Beacock * New Republic *
For fans of Walt Whitman's poetry or any reader interested in how this father of American poetry continues to shape our understanding of democracy…A beautiful and thorough introduction to and examination of America's most important poet. * Portland Book Review *
