Louisa May Alcott - Essayist

 My mother was always after me to read Alcott's Little Women, and being a perverse and stubborn child I did not. I did when I was in prison (I have no idea why it was in our prison library; I took it as a sign and did not ask questions). I wish I had, so I could ask my mother why she thought I should read it. I may have a clue this evening, but only a clue.

Anyway, Lit Hub published Nonfiction That Rivals Little Women: The Forgotten Essays of Louisa May Alcott by Liz Rosenberg:

Louisa May Alcott is best known for Little Women, of course, her classic American novel for young readers—but she earned her first taste of celebrity as an essayist. That should surprise no one. Her writing genius defied genre. In many ways, her finest essays are even more brilliant—more consistently brilliant—than her novels and stories. Three of her non-fiction pieces alone—”Going Out to Service”; “Transcendental Wild Oats”; and “Hospital Sketches”—are, as they used to say in Charles II’s day, worth the price of admission to all the rest. Anyone who has read and loved her novels will recognize her characteristic style, energy and wit.

I think I would prefer the essayist.

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