The First Last Man: Mary Shelley and the Postapocalyptic Imagination rounds out a trilogy of Shelley-related scholarship by political scientist EileenThe First Last Man: Mary Shelley and the Postapocalyptic Imagination rounds out a trilogy of Shelley-related scholarship by political scientist Eileen M. Hunt. (The previous two works, also highly recommended, include Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child: Political Philosophy in Frankenstein and Artificial Life After Frankenstein.) In this volume, Hunt focuses not only on Shelley's The Last Man, but also on Shelley's personal journals and her story "The Invisible Girl," noting how these writings together serve as plague narratives.
Hunt restores Shelley to the tradition of plague and pandemic writing, but she also underscores Shelley's pathbreaking role as an author of political science fiction, a writer who identifies plagues as "human-made monstrosities," "human contaminations of their wider social environments," tragedies rooted in "corruption, panic, and politics." Hunt ably unpacks what she calls "Shelley's existential philosophy of love," explores the impact of Shelley's translation of Oedipus Rex on her writing, and draws connections between the postapocalyptic pandemic novel and the intellectual history of international relations. I found it particularly interesting to see how Hunt traces Shelley's legacy in the works of more recent women authors of postapocalyptic political thought such as Muriel Spark, Lorraine Hansberry, Joanna Russ, Margaret Atwood, Octavia Butler, Emily St. John, and Sandra Newman.
To call this book timely would be an understatement. While I wished for more direct textual analysis of The Last Man, in particular -- more highlighting and analysis of Shelley's own words, less simply retelling what she said -- and more direct engagement with science fiction scholarship, I do deeply appreciate the depth and breadth of the theory and history that was brought to bear in this analysis. This is a readable, wide-ranging, and welcome contribution from an astute scholar, and I recommend it! I hope that it serves to bring more attention and appreciation to understudied and richly deserving writings by Mary Shelley.
Thank you NetGalley and the University of Pennsylvania Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own....more
With insight and empathy, authors Hieber and Janes recover and honor the real women behind legendary U.S. ghost stories (categorized as Maidens, WitchWith insight and empathy, authors Hieber and Janes recover and honor the real women behind legendary U.S. ghost stories (categorized as Maidens, Witches, Mothers and Wives, Jezebels, Madwomen, Spinsters and Widows, and Frauds). Theirs is not a comprehensive or encyclopedic undertaking of original scholarship, but it's not intended to be. Hieber and Janes choose illustrative examples (most famous and oft-retold, many from their home base of New York, some from personal experiences) to unfold their larger (feminist) argument about women's roles and voices in the United States. This is an entertaining, accessible, and at times very moving book -- and, best of all, it's a work that invites the reader to follow up on footnotes and sources in the bibliography, to do more investigating and pondering, and to interrogate the familiar tales we repeat and rethink their meanings. Both Hieber and Janes are terrific storytellers, and their different approaches to the material is one of the book's many strengths.
I received this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review....more
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