Coming December 9, 2025 from Simon & Schuster.
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.
“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
“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
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 