{"product_id":"letters-from-an-american-farmer-j-hector-st-john-de-crvecoeur-9780674051812","title":"Letters from an American Farmer and Other Essays","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLetters from an American Farmer\u003c\/i\u003e was published in London in 1782, just as the idea of an \"American\" was becoming a reality. Those epistolary essays introduced the European public to America's landscape and customs and have since served as the iconic description of a then-new people. Dennis D. Moore's convenient, up-to-date reader's edition situates those twelve pieces from the 1782 \u003ci\u003eLetters\u003c\/i\u003e in the context of thirteen other essays representative of Cr钁ecoeur's writings in English. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe \"American Farmer\" of the title is Cr钁ecoeur's fictional persona Farmer James, a bumpkin from rural Pennsylvania. In his Introduction to this edition, Moore places this self-effacing pose in perspective and charts Cr钁ecoeur's enterprising approach to self-promotion, which involved repackaging and adapting his writings for French and English audiences. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn in Normandy, Cr钁ecoeur came to New York in the 1750s by way of England and then Canada, traveled throughout the colonies as a surveyor and trader, and was naturalized in 1765. The pieces he included in the 1782 \u003ci\u003eLetters\u003c\/i\u003e map a shift from hopefulness to disillusionment: its opening selections offer America as a utopian haven from European restrictions on personal liberty and material advancement but give way to portrayals of a land plagued by the horrors of slavery, the threat of Indian raids, and revolutionary unrest. This new edition opens up a broader perspective on this artful, ambitious writer and cosmopolitan thinker who coined America's most enduring metaphor: a place where \"individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e J. Hector St John de Cr钁ecoeur\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0674051815\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780674051812\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Belknap Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/14\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.50w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2013","brand":"J. Hector St John de Cr钁ecoeur","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43946903142655,"sku":"9780674051812","price":43.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_941fecf0-8cc9-4520-bd02-a1aebc5fadbe.jpg?v=1681515681","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/letters-from-an-american-farmer-j-hector-st-john-de-crvecoeur-9780674051812","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}