The Mauve Decade

"The Mauve Decade" is a sophisticated and wry examination of American life and culture during the final decade of the nineteenth century. Thomas Beer provides a brilliant, impressionistic portrait of the 1890s-a period characterized by a tension between fading Victorian sensibilities and the emergence of modern realism. Through a series of interlocking essays, Beer explores the literary figures, social mores, and political undercurrents that defined the era, famously labeling it the "Mauve"...