Now available from Simon & Schuster.
A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls: Margaret C. Anderson, Book Bans, and the Fight to Modernize Literature
The definitive biography of the politically radical lesbian prosecuted for publishing the first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses — literary maverick and queer icon Margaret C. Anderson.
Reviews
“Riveting and indispensable” —The Boston Globe, Leigh Haber
“Lively, impassioned” —The Atlantic, Sophia Stewart
“At the heart of this lively history is the editor Margaret C. Anderson, a radical lesbian who is perhaps best known for publishing, in a literary magazine she edited, James Joyce’s Ulysses in serial form.” —The New Yorker
“Anderson didn’t have an algorithm to battle, but she did have a censorious moral atmosphere to navigate around, and her story is an object lesson in the one virtue the algorithm has little tolerance for — patience.” —The Los Angeles Times, Mark Athitakis
“Engaging and accessible… essential reading for anyone interested in how literature and politics intersect during periods of rapid social change.” —World Literature Today, Kristen Skillen
“Gripping and informative” —NewCity, Keir Graff
“Readers will savor this enlightening depiction of a little-discussed but influential figure of both modernism and queer history.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“A vital addition to literature collections and a must for Banned Books Week celebrations.”—Booklist, starred review
“A lively biography of a bold woman.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Readers will be astonished” —BookTrib
Praise
“A fascinating account of a remarkable woman dangerously ahead of her time. Margaret C. Anderson championed the most scandalous writers and thinkers that we hold dear as literary geniuses today, and her story is more important now than ever before.” —Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians
“An illuminating look at an under-considered figure in literary history, Adam Morgan’s wise and generous biography is wholly transportive and spellbinding. I was beguiled.” —Ling Ma, author of Severance and Bliss Montage
“An exhilarating portrait of a woman whose battle matters now just as much as it did in 1921. Exquisitely researched, deeply felt, and poignant. This one belongs on your shelf.” —Sarah Rose Etter, author of Ripe and The Book of X
“Through Margaret C. Anderson’s story, A DANGER TO THE MINDS OF YOUNG GIRLS delivers an exhilarating homage to all women who have lived life by their own terms.” —Michelle Duster, author of Ida B. the Queen: The extraordinary life and legacy of Ida B. Wells
“A fresh and much-needed account of the modernist visionary who gambled everything on beauty — and lost. Morgan captures the hopes and ambitions, the feuds and foibles of the American avant-garde with exceptional care and clarity on events that still hold great relevance: on the nature of censorship, community building, and artistic innovation.” —Rebecca Romney, author of Jane Austen’s Bookshelf and co-founder of Type Punch Matrix
“A stylish, riveting tale of a person and a movement. Margaret Anderson’s life reminds us of the vital work that women have always done to expand cultural sensibilities and “make it new.” —Audrey Clare Farley, author of The Unfit Heiress and Girls and Their Monsters
Interviews
“I’m really excited for this book to be out in the world.” —Kirkus “Fully Booked” Podcast, Megan Labrise
“A wonderfully researched and consistently entertaining look at this brilliant and complicated woman.” —Chicago Review of Books, Michael Welch
“How a 1921 obscenity trial over Ulysses speaks to censorship issues today” —Indy Week, Shelbi Polk
“Fascinating” —Unruly Figures Podcast, Valorie Castellanos Clark
“Compelling [and] hard to put down” —Critically Speaking Podcast, Therese Markow
About the book
Already under fire for publishing the literary avant-garde into a world not ready for it, Margaret C. Anderson’s cutting-edge magazine The Little Review was a bastion of progressive politics and boundary-pushing writing from then-unknowns such as T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, William Butler Yeats, Djuna Barnes, and more. And as its publisher, Anderson was a target. From Chicago to New York and Paris, this fearless agitator helmed a woman-led publication that pushed American culture forward and challenged the sensibilities of early twentieth century Americans dismayed by its salacious writing and advocacy for women’s suffrage, birth control, and LBGTQ rights.
But then it went too far. In 1921, Anderson found herself on trial and labeled “a danger to the minds of young girls” by the obscenity court seeking to shut her down. Guilty of having serialized James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses in her magazine, Anderson was now not just a publisher but also a scapegoat for regressives seeking to impose their will on a world on the brink of modernization.
Author, journalist, and literary critic Adam Morgan brings Anderson and her journal to life anew in A Danger to the Minds of Young Girls, capturing a moment of cultural acceleration and backlash all too familiar while shining light on an unsung heroine of American arts and letters. Bringing a fresh eye to a woman and movement misunderstood in their time, this biography highlights a women-led counterculture that audaciously pushed for more during a time of extreme social conservatism and changed the face of American literature and culture forever.
Adam Morgan 