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Little House, Long Shadow: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Impact on American Culture | 
 enlarge | Author: Anita Clair Fellman
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $27.96
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Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 172011
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 376
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0826218032
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780826218032
ASIN: 0826218032
Publication Date: June 5, 2008
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Product Description
Fellman shows that Laura Ingalls Wilder's magical Little House series contained a covert political message that made many readers comfortable with the resurgence of conservatism. Because both Wilder and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, opposed the New Deal programs being implemented as they wrote, their books use family history as an argument against the state's protection of individuals from economic uncertainty, emphasizing the Ingalls family's isolation and resilience in the face of crises. Fellman argues that the books' popularity helped lay the groundwork for a negative response to big government and a positive view of political individualism, contributing to the acceptance of contemporary conservatism while perpetuating a mythic West. Fellman also explores the continuing presence of the books--and their message--in modern cultural institutions from classrooms to tourism, newspaper editorials to Internet message boards.
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| Customer Reviews:
 this book is a tour de force November 9, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is sad to me that a book as thoughtful, as quiet and as tolerant as this attracts readers such as the first reviewer. This is both a very scholarly and a very personal and self-reflective study. I was most moved by the fact that Prof. Fellman begins with a confession about her own connection to the 'Little House' series as a young reader and then as a mother, touching on that soft spot reserved in all our hearts for primordial experiences, for our `madeleines.' She then goes on to analyze the political and cultural implications of their impact--as cultural historians would do with such popular books for young people as 'Little Women,' 'Harry Potter' or the fiction of C.S. Lewis. If anything, the first reviewer is representative of the insidious message that Fellman reveals as inherent in a certain kind of political libertarianism, of the animus on which it feeds. She bases her conclusions on vast amounts of archival research, her own interviews, and many contemporary theories--and weaves them into a seamless narrative so that for those who don't want to bother, the endnotes are just embellishment...It is really a tour de force. Fellman brings a feminist perspective to bear on the roles of women, the perspectives of woman, etc., but again, without becoming strident. Her insights on the mother-daughter relationships between Laura and her mother and then Laura and Rose are equally instructive. (Perhaps the most enlightening fact is that Laura did not visit her mother from 1902 till she died in 1924!!!) Finally, the chapter on `Revisiting the Little Houses' with its discussion of the expanding frontier, the effaced Native Americans and `Manifest Destiny' is extremely powerful and informed by immense scholarship. This book is a must for all those interested in popular culture, American culture and the power of fiction on the historical imagination.
An interesting look at the creation of an American classic August 18, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
It's too bad the earlier reviewer appears not to understand the nature of fiction. The Little House books are wonderful, but, yes, they are fiction. Readers with an understanding of westward expansion in the US know that the stories are embellished. Fellner's examination shines an interesting light on these favorites and for those with an interest in Wilder's impact on literature and society, it's an interesting read. For those who simply want to love the books for what they are -- cherished childhood favorites -- they may want to stick with Wilder's writings alone.
 LEFT-WING LIBERALISM June 9, 2008
13 out of 35 found this review helpful
The author of this book has NO CLUE what she is talking about. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about the TRUE historical events of her family's life on the prairies of the Midwest. Yes, some of her stories were somewhat embellished, but the Little House books are basically true, nontheless. The author is obviously a left-wing women's libber who can't quite comprehend that people actually lived the way Laura Ingalls Wilder describes life on the prairie. (And yes, Anita, women actually did a lot of housework back then, content to stay at home and raise their children, instead of donning "Hillary-clone" pantsuits and trying to climb the corporate ladder at the office - SHOCKER!!! - it sounds to me like you have a BIG problem with that). This book disgusts me. It's an obvious slam against conservatism - a view that is sorely lacking in our country. I am a HUGE fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder, to the point of naming my beautiful daughter Laura Elizabeth. I greatly admire LIW and all she stands for - home, hearth, and family - but with an independent spirit as well. I'd like to see today's feminists attempt to survive living the life that LIW and many other families like hers endured. We owe them a great debt - if it weren't for their endurance of the hardships of life on the prairie in the 1800's, we wouldn't be here today. The author of this book has never seen a child's eyes light up when the Little House books are read aloud to her or him, or has never visited one of the sites of the Ingalls homesteads, closed her eyes, felt the prairie breezes on her face,and imagined hearing the sound of the covered wagons. I have. I could go on (and on and on), but I won't. To sum up.......DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME ON THIS TRASH. Instead, buy the set of the Little House books, snuggle up with an afghan and a cup of hot cocoa, and no matter how young or old you are, totally immerse yourself into Laura's world of life on the 1800's prairie. You have a real treat in store. And please, please, read the Little House series to your children and grandchildren, so her way of life will not be lost on future generations.
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