The editorsโ new introduction helps the reader to negotiate Blithedaleโs literary difficulties by offering a detailed reflection on the main problems confronted by past and present interpreters of the novel. Appendices expand on the central historical theme of reform, highlighting the novelโs references to womenโs emancipation, antislavery, and Utopian socialism.
Michael J. Colacurcio is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles.
M. Luke Bresky is Associate Professor of English at St. Maryโs University, Calgary, Alberta.