Seeking St. Louis: Voices from a River City, 1670-2000 Volume 1

Complementing the new permanent exhibition at the Missouri Historical Society, this anthology gathers over three centuries of writings on St. Louis by 100 individuals who have been inspired to describe the physical and cultural essence of this region. The volume contains excerpted selections from all genres--travel diaries, poetry, fiction, journalism, drama, and rare out-of-print and previously unpublished archival material--including poems by Angus Umphraville, from the first volume of verse published west of the Mississippi, and newspaper articles by Theodore Dreiser when he was a beat reporter for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Other compelling excerpts were authored by such notables as Auguste Chouteau, Charles Dickens, William Wells Brown, William T. Sherman, Sara Teasdale, T. S. Eliot, Tennessee Williams, Fanny Hurst, William S. Burroughs, Miles Davis, Nzotake Shange, John Lutz, Carl Phillips, and Quincy Troupe. A biographical introduction precedes each entry to place the author and the excerpt in the proper historical context. The content of Seeking St. Louis was enriched by the involvement of several of the St. Louis area's foremost literary experts--Robert Boyd, Jan Garden Castro, Gerald Early, Wayne Fields, and Karen Goering--who served as contributing editors.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1883982111
• ISBN13: 9781883982119
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Missouri Historical Society Press
• Length: 1088 Pages
• Weight: 3.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.5" x 6.5" x 9.6"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

St Louis-based Collection of Essays, Poems, and Short Stories

Thank you Lee Ann Sandweiss. Ms Sandweiss has compiled a comprehensive overview of material spanning the entire history of St Louis (well, until the year 2000). There are essays, short stories and novel excerpts. There are republished newspaper features and even a few poems. It is an interesting way to learn St. Louis history, from first hand accounts of the people who were there.

A Great Primary History & Great Read

If anybody asked me--describe St. Louis--I can now just hand them a copy of this book. Beginning with Pere Jacques Marquette and concluding with Gerald Early, 300 plus years of St. Louis are illustrated through various memoirs, stories, poems, essays and plays as told by St. Louisans (both well known and lesser known).Not just mere public relations ad campaign for the region, the collection also confronts issues head-on that have plagued the region for quite some time. However many selections also remind us how many great aspects there are in this region to offer its citizens.The introductions and bios for the individual authors also provide great context and insight to the pieces, as well as including many interesting tibits of information that even the most knowledgable St. Louisian wouldn't know. Kudos to Lee Ann Sandweiss and everyone at the Missouri Historical Society for assembling an anthology very worthy of anyone who "seeks St. Louis."