Praise for The American Idea

"This is a glorious collection. The Atlantic has been at the fore of America's intellectual and literary life for 150 years, and these pieces show how the spirit of Twain and Holmes has remained alive. It's an addictive offering." -- Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein: His Life and Universe


“No American magazine boasts a more sterling pedigree than The Atlantic Monthly. It has published more truly seminal articles than any other periodical in American history. To celebrate one-hundred-and-fifty years of great writers and great writing, Robert Vare has compiled and edited The American Idea, a dazzling omnibus filled with the best work of such distinguished Atlantic alumni as Twain, Whitman, Hemingway, and Frost. Everybody should own, read, and cherish this elegant journey through the pages of our history. What a truly outstanding book!” —Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast and professor of American history at Rice University


"This scintillating, infinitely varied and irresistibly readable collection of the best writing published in The Atlantic Monthly over the last 150 years is a revelation – of the quality of writing that a magazine can aspire to, and achieve, with stunning frequency; and of the power of words, occasional and otherwise, to make you think, laugh, shudder, wonder, and feel. The effect of browsing through this astonishing collection is to have one’s faith in American culture and the republic of letters restored. The introductory headnotes briefly sketching how and in what context each piece came to press are invaluable." -- Ric Burns, documentary filmmaker

"The Atlantic Monthly observes its 150th birthday in November, which makes it one of the oldest continuously published magazines in the United States. In his introduction to this anniversary collection, editor-at-large Vare suggests that the magazine's enduring success and position in American letters can be traced to its founding writers (e.g., Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) and, particularly, to its first editor, James Russell Lowell. These 75 articles, essays, stories, and poems amount to a Who's Who of the last 150 years of writers, thinkers, and artists: e.g., Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edith Wharton, Wallace Stevens, and Sylvia Plath. They well reflect the Atlantic's emphasis on covering large-scale, long-lasting, and sometimes controversial issues of American culture. "Firsts" collects breakthrough pieces that have changed popular perceptions; "States of War" addresses armed conflicts in American history; and "Controversies" features articles that have taken a stand on issues of the day. Other sections deal with the issues of race and the environment, collect memorable humor writing and narrative nonfiction, and speak to our national identity and role in the world. Vare has culled pieces of such profound literary merit or strong, long-term impact as to make this an outstanding purchase for any academic or public library." —Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., ME, The Library Journal, 10/01/07


"[R]eaders can see the nation through the eyes of its finest writers, such as Mark Twain, Henry James, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Walt Whitman, Martin Luther King Jr., Helen Keller and, from more recent days, William Least Heat-Moon, Garrison Keillor and William Langewiesche, all of whose work shows up in this remarkable anthology." —Julia Keller, "An American literary heritage spans from 'Atlantic' to Pacific," Chicago Tribune, October 21, 2007


"From the Civil War through the War on Terror, The Atlantic Monthly has moderated a civilized and intelligent debate over what it means to be an American. This anthology expertly guides the reader through that conversation with headnotes that provide invaluable context to each piece. Reading The American Idea one marvels at the vital role The Atlantic has played not only in the history of American magazines, but in the history of the country itself." —Robert S. Boynton, author of "The New New Journalism" and director of the magazine writing program at NYU's Department of Journalism


"[T]his is a superb anthology -- stuffed with rich selections, organized with thematic wisdom, each piece introduced with a helpful, contextualizing editor's note." —Steve Weinberg, "Atlantic Monthly anthology is font of wisdom for the ages," Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 28, 2007


"The Atlantic Monthly is perhaps this country's most intelligent and influential popular magazine. So a compendium of its history, if done well, is also a compendium of American thought. In this sense, 'The American Idea,' a collection of essays, poetry and other writings in commemoration of the Atlantic's 150th anniversary, is done abundantly well. As an introduction to the magazine, a better and more representative selection could scarcely be imagined. Robert Vare has lovingly and deftly put his red pen to the unenviable task of whittling 150 years and 1,800 issues' worth of material down to 75 works." —Austin Considine, "Review: U.S. history, heritage - as recorded in Atlantic Monthly," San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 2007


"One grasps for metaphors when trying to describe this terrific anthology. It's a quilt, a tapestry, a time-lapse film, a round table, an American self-portrait, a repository of riches." —Anne Fadiman, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" and former editor-in-chief of The American Scholar