Items related to The Truman Nelson Reader
Truman Nelson (1911-1987) was a self-educated novelist, essayist, lecturer, and social activist. He never finished high school and supported himself in his early years as a factory worker, labor organizer, actor, and playwright. Encouraged by F. O. Matthiessen, he turned to writing and in 1952 published his first historical novel, The Sin of the Prophet, a study of Theodore Parker and the Anthony Burns case. That book earned him his picture on the cover of Saturday Review and designation as the magazine's "Writer of the Year." Two novels soon followed: The Passion by the Brook (1953), on George Ripley and the communal movement at Brook Farm, and The Surveyor (1960), on John Brown's abolition efforts in Kansas. These three novels established Nelson as a major writer on the history of American radical thought. His later essays and polemical writings were influential in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, when Nelson traveled, taught, lectured, and acted in the front lines of the struggle for racial equality.
In recent years, Nelson has been neglected by scholars, critics, and the general public, and many of his writings have been allowed to go out of print. The Truman Nelson Reader is intended to restore his voice and to prompt a reevaluation of his work. The collection brings together excerpts from Nelson's published novels, selected essays, and a portion of his last, as yet unpublished, novel on John Humphrey Noyes, founder of the Oneida Colony. Also included are essays on William Lloyd Garrison, Henry David Thoreau, John Brown, and W.E.B. Du Bois, as well as selections from the 1960s: "The Torture of Mothers," written after the first Harlem riots; "The Right of Revolution," reportedly found on Ho Chi Minh's desk at the time of his death; and "The Conscience of the North," a meditation on Theodore Parker's meaning for the civil rights movement.
In recent years, Nelson has been neglected by scholars, critics, and the general public, and many of his writings have been allowed to go out of print. The Truman Nelson Reader is intended to restore his voice and to prompt a reevaluation of his work. The collection brings together excerpts from Nelson's published novels, selected essays, and a portion of his last, as yet unpublished, novel on John Humphrey Noyes, founder of the Oneida Colony. Also included are essays on William Lloyd Garrison, Henry David Thoreau, John Brown, and W.E.B. Du Bois, as well as selections from the 1960s: "The Torture of Mothers," written after the first Harlem riots; "The Right of Revolution," reportedly found on Ho Chi Minh's desk at the time of his death; and "The Conscience of the North," a meditation on Theodore Parker's meaning for the civil rights movement.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
William J. Schafer is professor of English and department chair at Berea College.
Review:
"The Torture of Mothers: An extraordinary moral achievement, in the great American tradition of Tom Paine and Frederick Douglass."―James Baldwin, The Nation
"Documents of Upheaval: A most valuable book on William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator."―Henry Steele Commager
"The Surveyor: Gives a picture of John Brown resulting from intensive studies which no person but Truman Nelson has ever made. . . . a great book."―W.E.B. Du Bois
"The Passion by the Brook: No small achievement. . . . His handling of the conflicts of strong personalities yoked together for a single and great purpose is excellent."―John Nerber, The New York Times
"The Right of Revolution: Very powerful stuff. Indeed I cannot think of anyone else now living who can write fighting prose of this order."―Conor Cruise O'Brien
"Tremendous! [Nelson] may be the last white man relevant to the Black revolution."―Conrad Lynn
"Nelson is one of the few white historians I would want my children to read."―Julian Mayfield , The Nation
"Documents of Upheaval: A most valuable book on William Lloyd Garrison and The Liberator."―Henry Steele Commager
"The Surveyor: Gives a picture of John Brown resulting from intensive studies which no person but Truman Nelson has ever made. . . . a great book."―W.E.B. Du Bois
"The Passion by the Brook: No small achievement. . . . His handling of the conflicts of strong personalities yoked together for a single and great purpose is excellent."―John Nerber, The New York Times
"The Right of Revolution: Very powerful stuff. Indeed I cannot think of anyone else now living who can write fighting prose of this order."―Conor Cruise O'Brien
"Tremendous! [Nelson] may be the last white man relevant to the Black revolution."―Conrad Lynn
"Nelson is one of the few white historians I would want my children to read."―Julian Mayfield , The Nation
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherUniversity of Massachusetts Press
- Publication date1988
- ISBN 10 0870236482
- ISBN 13 9780870236488
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number1
- Number of pages328
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