At once an intimate portrait of an eclectic, unforgettable group of writers and a history of a cultural revolution in America, The Bohemians reveals how a brief moment on the western frontier changed our country forever. But as Harte's star ascends-drawing attention from eastern taste makers such as the Atlantic Monthly-Twain flounders, questioning whether he should be a writer at all.īen Tarnoff's elegant, atmospheric history reveals how these four pioneering western writers would together create a new American literature, unfettered by the heavy European influence that dominated the East. Young and ambitious, Twain and Harte form the Bohemian core. The star of the moment is Bret Harte, a rising figure on the national scene and mentor to both Stoddard and Coolbrith. Twain and the Bohemians find inspiration in their surroundings: the dark ironies of frontier humor, the extravagant tales told around the campfires, and the youthful irreverence of the new world being formed in the west.

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The bards of the moment are the Bohemians: a young Mark Twain, fleeing the draft and seeking adventure literary golden boy Bret Harte struggling gay poet Charles Warren Stoddard and beautiful, haunted Ina Coolbrith, poet and protectorate of the group. The Bohemians: Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature - Ebook written by Ben Tarnoff. The Gold Rush has ended the Civil War threatens to tear apart the country. You can also buy Longreads Gift Memberships. Become a Longreads Member to receive the full story and support our service. The unforgettable story of the birth of modern America and the western writers who gave voice to its emerging identityThe Bohemians begins in 1860s San Francisco. For this week’s Longreads Member Pick, we’re thrilled to share the opening chapter of The Bohemians: Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature, the forthcoming book by Ben Tarnoff, published by The Penguin Press.

The Bohemians by Ben Tarnoff