Description
Book SynopsisExamines emotion in American literature between 1850 and 1940—when sentimental literature seemed to fade from the cultural landscape and managerial bureaucracies began to dominate American culture. Offers readings of novels by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Sherwood Anderson, Nathanael West, and David Foster Wallace.
Trade Review"A very humane book. Concentrating on the image of touch, Ritzenberg traces how American authors have represented human feeling. Delving into works from the 1850s to the 1930s, he shows how Americans responded to a major consequence of industrialization--the social organization of society through management--and how managerial principles eroded fundamental human connections." -- -Gregg Camfield University of California, Merced "Ritzenberg capably traces the 'sentimental touch'-- the evocation of emotion through bodiy relations. such as the touch of hands or an embraces-- arguing that it runs through a variety of American literary texts from 1850-1940... Recommended." -Choice "A powerful addition to the ongoing critical conversation about the role of sentimentality in shaping the parameters of American subjectivity while also offering some new and compelling readings of a small, but well chosen, set of American fictions." -- -Mary Louise Kete University of Vermont
