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FDU PRESS
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| Scholarly Review |
 | The Fortress of American Solitude
ISBN# 9780838642177
Reviewed by: A.T. Vaver, formerly, Brandeis University
Choice, March 2010 |
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Robinson Crusoe has been a best-selling literary work ever since its appearance in 1719, and most people know its basic story line even if they have never read it. Thomson (University of Texas, Pan American) examines the immense popularity and influence of Daniel Defoe's work in antebellum America, which saw 122 separate printings over a 20-year period. His analysis of Herman Melville's works form the heart and bulk of the book, but his chapter on James Fenimore Cooper and George Payson is more cogently argued. Thomson is at his best when he directly compares episodes from Crusoe to an 1859 New York Times article that recounts the real-life adventures of Sophia Richardson, a female castaway who spent three years on an island in Lake Superior.
Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty.
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