The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography)

The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman: An Autobiography (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography)

    Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1869-1935) was one of the leading intellectuals of the American women's movement in the first two decades of the twentieth century.  Moving beyond the struggle for suffrage, Gilman confronted an even larger problem—economic and social discrimination against women.  Her book, Women and Economics , published in 1898, was repeatedly printed and translated into seven languages.  She was a tireless traveler, lecturer, and writer and is perhaps best known for her dramatic short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper."  Gilman's autobiography gives us access to the life of a remarkable and courageous woman.     Originally published in 1935, soon after Gilman's death, The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman has been out of print for several years.  This edition includes a new introduction by Gilman's noted biographer, Anne J. Lane. "As years passed and continuous writing and speaking developed the various lines of thought I was following, my work grew in importance but lost in market value.  .  .  .  Theodore Dreiser looked gloomily at me over his desk and said: 'You should consider more what the editors want.'  Of course I should have  .  .  .  but if one writes to express important truths, needed yet unpopular, the market is necessarily limited."—Charlotte Perkins Gilman  "With the emerging awareness of autobiographies by famous women and how they differ from those by men, it is time for The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman  to become a permanent addition to the literature.  The outline of Gilman's unconventional life, as usually given in reference works and headnotes to her fiction, provides little insight into the brave, vivacious personality that radiates from her autobiography."—Nancy Engbretsen Schaumburger, Belles Lettres