Jane Addams, a Writer's Life Book

"Jane Addams, a Writer's Life" is an expansive, revealing, and refreshing re-examination of the renowned reformer as an imaginative writer. Jane Addams is best known for her groundbreaking social work at Hull-House, the force of her efforts toward Progressive political and social reform, and the bravery of her commitment to pacifism, for which she received the Nobel Peace Prize. Here, Joslin moves beyond this history to present Addams as a literary figure. Katherine Joslin examines Addams's rejection of scholarly writing in favor of a synthesis of fictional and analytical prose that appealed to a wider audience. From there, Joslin traces Addams' style from her early works, Philanthropy and Social Progress and Hull House Maps and Papers, influenced by Florence Kelley, to her modernist and experimental last books, "The Second Twenty Years at Hull-House" and "My Friend, Julia Lathrop", placing Addams in the context of other Chicago writers including Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, Harriet Monroe, Frank Norris and James T. Farrell. Joslin's close readings showcase Addams' distinguishing literary devices, such as using stories about people rather than sociological argument to make moral points. Addams explained her method of argument by illustration, stating that "ideas only operate upon the popular mind through will and character, and must be dramatized before they reach the mass of men." As Joslin pursues the argument that Addams' power as a public figure stemmed from the success of her books and essays, Addams herself emerges as a literary woman.