Misery's Mathematics

This book reveals the strain of a moment in American cultural history that led several remarkable writers -- Emerson, Warner, and Melville -- to render loss in innovative ways. These three key writers rejected Calvinist and sentimental models of bereavement, creating instead the compensations of a mature American literature.

Peter Balaam teaches English and American Studies at Carleton College.

List of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction: "Misery's Mathematics" Chapter One: "The Laws of our Learning": Emerson's Grief and the Geological Principles of Loss Chapter Two: Playing with Water: Thrill and Theodicy in The Wide, Wide World Chapter Three: Representing Grief, Mourning Representation: Melville's Piazza Tales Afterword: Soldering the Abyss: The Possibilities of Compensation Notes Works Cited Index