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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America Paperback - 2002

by Ann Fabian

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Reader reviews for The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

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The practice of selling one's tale of woe to make a buck has long been a part of American culture. The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America is a powerful cultural history of how ordinary Americans crafted and sold their stories of hardship and calamity during the nineteenth century. Ann Fabian examines the tales of beggars, convicts, ex-slaves, prisoners of the Confederacy, and others to explore cultural authority, truth-telling, and the nature of print media as the country was shifting to a market economy. This well-crafted book describes the fascinating controversies surrounding these little-read tales and returns them to the social worlds where they were produced.

Drawing on an enormous number of personal narratives-accounts of mostly poor, suffering, and often uneducated Americans-The Unvarnished Truth analyzes a long-ignored tradition in popular literature. Historians have treated the spread of literacy and the growth of print culture as a chapter in the democratization of refinement, but these tales suggest that this was not always the case. Producing stories that purported to be the plain, unvarnished truth, poor men and women edged their way onto the cultural stage, using storytelling strategies far older than those relying on a Renaissance sense of refinement and polish. This book introduces a unique collection of tales to explore the nature of truth, authenticity, and representation.

First line

In 1817 he once more endured extremity; this second peace drifting its discharged soldiers on London so that all kinds of labor were overstocked.

Details

  • Title The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America
  • Author Ann Fabian
  • Binding Paperback
  • Pages 268
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of California Press, Ewing, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Publication date 2002-05-28
  • ISBN 9780520232013 / 0520232011
  • Weight 0.81 lbs (0.37 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.96 x 6.06 x 0.69 in (22.76 x 15.39 x 1.75 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
  • Category Biography / Autobiography
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 99-12652
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

About the author

Ann Fabian is Associate Professor of American Studies at Rutgers University. She is the author of Card Sharps, Dream Books, and Bucket Shops: Gambling in Nineteenth Century America (1990).

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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

by Fabian, Ann

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Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. Paperback. Good. Clean pages except for penciled lines in the margins, almost all between pages 1-8; the soft cover is slightly faded along the spine and bears a few tiny specks and small gray smudges as well as mild edgewear at corners; otherwise sound. A good study copy.
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

by Fabian, Ann

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9780520232013 / 0520232011
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University of California Press, 1/7/2002 12:00:01 AM. paperback. Good. 0.7000 in x 8.8000 in x 6.0000 in. clean softcover. text has several sections of pen underlines. solid binding. ISBN matches listing
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Unvarnished Truth

Unvarnished Truth

by Ann Fabian

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Paperback / softback. New. New Book; Fast Shipping from UK; Not signed; Not First Edition; A collection of tales that show cultural history of how ordinary Americans crafted and sold their stories of hardship and calamity during the nineteenth century. It examines the tales of beggars, convicts, ex-slaves, prisoners of the Co
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

by Ann Fabian

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Paperback / softback. New. A collection of tales that show cultural history of how ordinary Americans crafted and sold their stories of hardship and calamity during the nineteenth century. It examines the tales of beggars, convicts, ex-slaves, prisoners of the Confederacy, and others to explore cultural authority, truth-telling, and the nature of print media.
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The Unvarnished Truth – Personal Narratives in Nineteenth–Century America
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The Unvarnished Truth – Personal Narratives in Nineteenth–Century America

by Ann Fabian

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Univ of California Pr, 2002. Paperback. New. 268 pages. 9.25x6.25x1.00 inches.
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

by Fabian, Ann

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9780520232013 / 0520232011
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University of California Press, 2002-01-07. paperback. New. 6.00x0.68x8.80. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

by Fabian, Ann

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780520232013 / 0520232011
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

by Fabian, Ann

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  • Paperback
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780520232013 / 0520232011
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paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America
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The Unvarnished Truth: Personal Narratives in Nineteenth-Century America

by Fabian, Ann

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Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780520232013 / 0520232011
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University of California Press, 2002-01-07. Paperback. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!
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