From: Smithhemb at aol.com <Smithhemb>
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:34:35 EST

I'm an 18th century person (scholarly work focuses on political thought in this era with a special interest in African-American political thought), but I found the first book really annoying. Clearly it wasn't because an 18th century prose style would put me off, nor was it a matter of length. It was because the book didn't ring true to me in a myriad of little ways and because it seemed more in tune with late 20th century scholarly preoccupations and sensibilities than with 18th century concerns.
  I'll try to spend a little time this week re-reading the first volume to provide examples of the things that were off (I remember one of the first ones was that if this sort of experiment were happening in colonial America it would
 have been in Philadelphia -- not Boston). My copy of the second volume just arrived and I haven't read it yet, but I intend to. Not surprisingly, given my own interests, I'm curious to see what Anderson is doing with this material.
  Another element of my reaction to the first volume was that this was a case where the truth(s) of 18th c. African-American lives were much richer and more telling than this particular fiction.
  Sue Hemberger Washington, DC
**************One site has it all. Your email accounts, your social networks, and the things you love. Try the new AOL.com today!(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212962939x1200825291/aol?redir=http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp
%26icid=aolcom40vanity%26ncid=emlcntaolcom00000001)
Received on Fri 21 Nov 2008 05:34:35 AM CST