Blue Pencils and Hidden Hands: Women Editing Periodicals, 1830-1910 Book

The majority of Americans seem to understand Helen Keller in one of two ways: as an inspiring hero who overcame deafness and blindness in young life to become, well, an inspiring hero (see the play "The Miracle Worker" or just about every kid's book on Ms. Keller), or as an inspiring hero who overcame deafness and blindness in young life to become an ardent supporter of human rights and a champion of human dignity (she co-founded the ACLU, for Pete's sake!). "The World I Live In" has introduced me to a third Helen Keller-- the creative Helen Keller. As it turns out, the woman was one HELL of a great writer. Her work shows a deep knowledge of the American tradition (her philosophy is akin to Emerson's; at one point she uses an image that MUST come from Whitman's "Patient Noiseless Spider"; the final chapter riffs on dozens of literary tropes, etc), but her style and mood and vision must all be counted as uniquely her own. It's one thing for Emerson to describe a transparent eyeball; it's quite another for Helen to describe her "seeing hand," especially in her calm, clear prose, which almost approaches the Tao Te Ching in its simple beauty. You of course get her famous optimism here (again, with an Emersonian cast, so it's sharp and moving, not just a Hallmark card); you also get a fair amount of archness (see the preface, where she seems to castigate those who would confine her to only talking about herself) and humor (that final chapter, again, which seems to be an extended satire on the idea of her dreams... her dreams which every psychologist believes to be so interesting, but that are in fact not much different from anyone else's). How could this possibly be as "under-read" as its release in the NYRB classics series would seem to indicate? Students of literature, history, psychology, religion, and wonder will all find something unforgettable here.