Louisa May Alcott: A Modern Biography

Rating:
Summary: Louisa may Alcott: A Modern Biography by Martha Saxton
Review: Having done a good deal of research on Louisa May Alcott, I would call Martha Saxton's work -the soap opera biography. She takes liberties with her source material such as utilizing the freshman english paper style of pulling quotes out of context and with the ever helpful ...uses them to support some National Enquirer type inferences and some pretty out there theories. It makes for a juicy read, but she comes to some highly questionable if not bizarre conclusions. Even the Orchard House, home of the Alcotts, will not sell this book due to the poor scholarship and that should tell you something. Still best biography is Madeleine B. Stern's - thorough, well done and highly recommended over Saxton's questionable attempt.

Rating:
Summary: Louisa may Alcott: A Modern Biography by Martha Saxton
Review: Having done a good deal of research on Louisa May Alcott, I would call Martha Saxton's work -the soap opera biography. She takes liberties with her source material such as utilizing the freshman english paper style of pulling quotes out of context and with the ever helpful ...uses them to support some National Enquirer type inferences and some pretty out there theories. It makes for a juicy read, but she comes to some highly questionable if not bizarre conclusions. Even the Orchard House, home of the Alcotts, will not sell this book due to the poor scholarship and that should tell you something. Still best biography is Madeleine B. Stern's - thorough, well done and highly recommended over Saxton's questionable attempt.

Rating:
Summary: A history that keeps your interest
Review: I grew up on Louisa May Alcott's books-- and wanted to "BE" Jo March. Well, Saxton's biography traces the parts of Jo that are Alcott, and points out the important differences between the fiction Alcott created and the life she lived. The biography points out Alcott's troubled relationship with her family, her need to support them and feel important, and her severe disabilities later in life (the time she was writing most of her work) because of a "Mercury Cure." Saxton takes quite an antagonistic view towards Bronson Alcott, and her sympathies are quite "feminist" in origin-- but all in all, this book will be a great read, and teach you a lot about this incredible, under-rated writer who is a part of our cultural heritage.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting times
Review: I grew up on Louisa May Alcott's books-- and wanted to "BE" Jo March. Well, Saxton's biography traces the parts of Jo that are Alcott, and points out the important differences between the fiction Alcott created and the life she lived. The biography points out Alcott's troubled relationship with her family, her need to support them and feel important, and her severe disabilities later in life (the time she was writing most of her work) because of a "Mercury Cure." Saxton takes quite an antagonistic view towards Bronson Alcott, and her sympathies are quite "feminist" in origin-- but all in all, this book will be a great read, and teach you a lot about this incredible, under-rated writer who is a part of our cultural heritage.

Rating:
Summary: Sensationalism Trumps Scholarship
Review: Ms. Saxton's "modern biography" of Louisa May Alcott is a well-written narration of a fascinating life. The trouble with it is that it is overly aggressive in pursuing a narrowly politicized agenda. Ms. Saxton was unable to imagine Louisa as anything but a victim: a victim of her family, of ill health, and of her own disparaging self-image. She's right as to the ill health, but as to the other aspects of the portrayal she exaggerates recklessly. The Alcotts were certainly a flawed family, but they were also a brave, loving, and morally principled family. The positive and inspiring aspects of their existence are all but lost in Ms. Saxton's rant. During her lifetime, Louisa May Alcott destroyed countless family documents in hopes of protecting the family from cruelly distorted portrayals. Perhaps she saw Martha Saxton in someone's crystal ball. The best books on Louisa are still the biography by the wonderful Madeleine B. Stern and A Hunger for Home by Sarah Elbert, although I'm told that W.W. Norton has an interesting one in the works.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting times
Review: The world that Louisa May Alcott lived in was amazing--personal family friends included Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, etc. Unfortunately, this isn't a terrific biography because the author falls into an "overquoting" pattern. Instead of making the story flow and drawing conclusions from the family's extensive journals, Saxton just endlessly quotes passages. It grew tedious. For an excellent biography that doesn't fall into this trap, check out "Lindberg" by A. Scott Berg.