Eugene Field and his age / Lewis O. Saum.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Saum, Lewis O.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Field, Eugene, 1850-1895.

Field, Eugene.

Journalism--Illinois--Chicago--History--19th century.

Journalism.

Poets, American--19th century--Biography.

Poets, American.

Journalists--United States--Biography.

Journalists.

Chicago (Ill.)--Biography.

Chicago (Ill.).

Chicago (Ill.)--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (336 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Eugene Field (1850-95) is perhaps best remembered for his children's verse, especially "Little Boy Blue" and "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod." During his journalistic career, however, his column, "Sharps and Flats," in the Chicago Daily News illuminated the shenanigans of local and national politics, captured the excitement of baseball, and praised the cultural scene of Chicago and the West over that of the East Coast and Europe. Field used whimsy, satire, and, at times, unadorned admiration to depict and encapsulate the energy of a young nation reinventing itself and its political ambitions in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. Foremost, Field was a political observer. During his lifetime politics saw more public awareness and involvement than at any other time in American history, and Field's great popularity derived mainly from his near-ceaseless commentary--arch, outlandish, comic, serious--on that arena of affairs. Field also devoted many columns to entertainment and diversions, discussing the baseball "idiocy" that stormed Chicago and championing and criticizing authors and actors.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

A Brief Field Chronology

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [303]-315) and index.

ISBN:

0-8032-1921-0

OCLC:

70764755