Little Women (First Edition) (Norton Critical Editions) - Softcover

Alcott, Louisa May

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393976149 ISBN 13: 9780393976144

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003

Synopsis

This authoritative, accurate text of the first edition (1868–69) of Little Women is accompanied by textual variants and thorough explanatory annotations.

“Backgrounds and Contexts” includes a wealth of archival materials, among them previously unpublished correspondence with Thomas Niles and Alcott’s own precursors to Little Women. “Criticism” reprints twenty nineteenth-century reviews. Seven modern essays represent a variety of critical theories used to read and study the novel, including feminist (Catharine R. Stimpson, Elizabeth Keyser), new historicist (Richard H. Brodhead), psychoanalytic (Angela M. Estes and Kathleen Margaret Lant), and reader-response (Barbara Sicherman). A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About this title

From the Publisher:

12 1.5-hour cassettes

From the Back Cover:

This American classic is as fresh and meaningful today as it was when it was first written in the 19th century. Largely based on the author's own childhood, Little Women is a timeless tale of the four young March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—who grow to maturity in their mother's tender but strong care. As different in their personalities as they are alike in their devotion to each other, the girls vow to support their beloved mother, Marmee, by behaving their best while Father is away, serving as an army chaplain in the Civil War.
Literary-minded tomboy Jo develops a fast friendship with the boy next door, and pretty Meg, the eldest, finds romance; frail and affectionate Beth fills the house with music, and little Amy, the youngest, seeks beauty with all the longing of an artist's soul. Although poor in material wealth, the family possesses an abundance of love, friendship, and imaginative gifts that captivate readers time and again.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0393976149
• ISBN 13: 9780393976144
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 665
• Editor: Eiselein Gregory, Phillips Anne K