New York holds a special place in America s national mythology as both the gateway to the USA and as a diverse, vibrant cultural center distinct from the rest of the nation. From the international atmosphere of the Dutch colony New Amsterdam, through the expansion of the city in the nineteenth century, to its unique appeal to artists and writers in the twentieth, New York has given its writers a unique perspective on American culture. This Companion explores the range of writing and performance in the city, celebrating Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Edith Wharton, Eugene O Neill, and Allen...

New York holds a special place in America s national mythology as both the gateway to the USA and as a diverse, vibrant cultural center distinct from the rest of the nation. From the international atmosphere of the Dutch colony New Amsterdam, through the expansion of the city in the nineteenth century, to its unique appeal to artists and writers in the twentieth, New York has given its writers a unique perspective on American culture. This Companion explores the range of writing and performance in the city, celebrating Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Edith Wharton, Eugene O Neill, and Allen...

"Sources and Contexts" unearths a wealth of original material about the environment the works were produced in and the real-life people who inspired them. The three sections, "On Coquetry," "The Life and Death of Elizabeth Whitman," and "The Nineteenth-Century Legacy," include new and corrected transcriptions of Whitman's letters to Ruth and Joel Barlow, an inventory of items found at Whitman's room at her death, popular representations of Elizabeth Whitman, and unauthorized sequels toThe Coquette. Seven illustrations, including three of Eliza Wharton, are included to enrich the...

I ain t knocked round the city streets all my life for nothin, proclaims Ragged Dick, the fast-talking boy hero of Horatio Alger s classic rags-to-riches tale. Dick is a plucky street boy who smokes, gambles, and speaks ungrammatically but he is also honest and hardworking, striving not for wealth and status, but for a steady job, a decent place to sleep, and respectability. A quintessential boy s novel of adventure, romance, and coming of age, Ragged Dick brings to life the drama and perils of living among other young outcasts in the crowded streets of lower Manhattan. It is at the...