Very informative and fun to read. I thought this book might not have a lot to add to the already copious amount of writing on Little Women, but I found that I learned a lot.

I love books on books, and Little Women was a favorite when I was younger. The book has not aged well for me, but this was an intereating look at its legacy.

A fascinating look at the life and work of Louisa May Alcott, full of biographical insight and keen literary/cultural analysis. Perfect timing with the 150th anniversary of 'Little Women' and the release of Greta Gerwig's masterful adaptation.

A detailed and engaging look at the historical significance and ongoing impact of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women". Anne Boyd Rioux, a professor and historian who focuses on the lives of nineteenth-century women, examines the biographical elements of Alcott's novel, its place in the American canon, and the influence of the title characters - particularly Jo - on modern TV and literary characters. Fun to read and not too dry.

Like many people, I read "Little Women" as a child and enjoyed both the story and the characters thoroughly, but looking back tend to remember it as being a little stuffy and "preachy". Rioux's book is a reminder that Alcott and her family, who served as rough models for the March's, were actually pretty radical, and her books were far livelier than the typical children's fare of the time. A fascinating look at the origins and continuing influences of this classic story.
(With thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton for providing a free e-book ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.)

MEG, JO, BETH, AMY by Anna Boyd Rioux offers a fascinating look at the history and characters from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women as that book approaches its sesquicentennial. This is a scholarly work where Rioux, a professor at the University of New Orleans, provides helpful background on Alcott's life and outlines some of the origins for and the parallels with characters in her classic novel. Providing ample examples and analyses, Rioux encourages readers to question whether Little Woman is a "rebellious tale of one young woman's resistance to the restrictions of her era, or a dispiriting portrait of her capitulation to the status quo." Rioux definitely laments the idea that Alcott's novel is rarely taught in schools today; in fact, she subtitles her study "The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters" and describes Alcott's book as "a fable of growing up female." The potentially controversial feminist interpretation, preference for contemporary texts and concerns about a crisis in boys' reading are all reasons that Rioux cites for fewer classroom lessons on Little Women.

Rioux calls Little Women "the most widely beloved story of girlhood" and says "what appears to be a sweet, light story of four girls growing up is also very much about how hard it was (and is) to come of age in a culture that prizes a woman's appearance over her substance." Additional perspective on MEG, JO, BETH, AMY is provided by Wall Street Journal reviewer Meghan Cox Gurdon whose own book, The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction will be available early next year. Both Booklist and Library Journal gave Rioux's MEG, JO, BETH, AMY starred reviews.

I've been waiting for a My Life in Middlemarch for Little Women so I was so glad to see this book was on Netgalley! It was a fascinating look at my favorite book.
I've recommended my library purchase it and preordered my own personal copy.

I found Rioux's book Meg Jo Beth and Amy to be both an informative and entertaining read. She gives an account of how Alcott came to write these beloved characters, but she also gives insight into why this story has endured as long as it has and has resonated with both writers and readers for generations and why some generations have more ties to these characters than others. As someone who is including Louisa May Alcott in my own dissertation, I found this book to be a useful addition to my research in terms of getting a further look at Alcott's life and these characters relationships with readers and writers. It is reader friendly for both academics and non-academics alike.

Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Anne Boyd Rioux is a look at the making of "Little Women", it's success, and why it is relevant today. It shows us how and why this book is a timeless classic.

I learned a lot from this book that I hadn't previously known. I liked how it went over how the characters reflected the author and her family. I also enjoyed how the author talked about the illustrations found in "Little Women". This book covers almost  everything you could want to know about "Little Women".

I enjoyed this book. I would recommend it to all fans of "Little Women".

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I got this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

I have read a lot about Louisa May Alcott but this book managed to include tidbits I had not known. Additionally, I liked that the book explained the larger social and cultural history and influences of the text.

The book made me rank the movie adaptations (1949 < 1933 < 1994) and Jos (June Allyson < Katherine Hepburn > Winona Ryder).

I can't rank Lauries because the other two suck as compared to Christian Bale. Lord help me (and all of us) when I have to compare Christian Bale and Timothée Chalamet.

2018 marks the 150th anniversary of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, a novel which became a trendsetter best seller, influencing generations of girls.

Anne Boyd Rioux's new book Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: the Story of Little Women and Why They Still Matter celebrates the novel's history, legacy, and influence.

I don't recall when I first read Little Women. I was given a copy of Alcott's later novel Eight Cousins when I was in elementary school. Madame Alexander created Little Women dolls, and in 1960 to 1962 my great-grandmother gifted me Marmee, Beth, Amy and Meg. I never got a Jo doll for sadly she passed away in 1963. By then, I must have read the book or seen the movie, because I recall thinking that Amy was spoiled and I did not like her. I always liked Jo because she was a writer and at age nine I had decided I wanted to be an author when I grew up.

Meg, Beth, Jo, Amy is more than a nostalgic look at the novel, for Rioux seeks to answer the question of what the novel offers to young readers today. Is it still relevant?

But first, she turns her attention to The Making of a Classic, presenting Alcott 's family and personal history, how they were fictionalized in the novel, how she came to write the novel and its early success.

Although the novel was inspired by the Alcott's family experiences, it was a very much idealized version of their life. Bronson Alcott held ideals that did not include worldly considerations so that his wife and daughters had to struggle to provide for their daily needs. He may have had episodes of mental instability. Louisa was perhaps a genius, but she also had to write to contribute to the family coffers.

Alcott never meant to marry off all the March girls, save Beth who dies. But the publisher insisted. Jo was at least allowed to marry on her own terms, and her husband and she run a school together.

This section alone was fascinating for those of us who love the novel.

The various printings of the novel, the illustrators (including those by May Alcott) are also presented.

In Part II, The Life of a Classic, follows the novel's adaptation for the screen and stage--including a musical and an opera--and their influence. I recently viewed the last adaptation, the BBC/PBS television series on Masterpiece Theater, which I very much enjoyed.

Rioux then turns her attention to the novel's Cultural and Literary Influence, including how it has dropped off the literary canon and has been marginalized as a 'girl's book.' And yet the novel had "more influence on women writers as a group than any other single book," Rioux writes, and she quotes dozens of writers extolling its inspiration. Little Women's legacy includes novels such as Anne of Green Gables by L. M Montgomery and Hermonine Granger in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling.

Is the novel an idealized version of life, or does it reflect reality? G. K. Chesterton thought Alcott "anticipated realism by twenty or thirty years," while many 20th c writers found it preachy and, in short, too feminine. Gloria Steinem and Germaine Greer both loved Little Women, while other feminists rejected the novel.

Is Little Women still relevant today, and why should it continue to be read, is probed in Part III: A Classic for Today.

In recent years fewer children have read Little Women, and that is in part because educational standards became slanted toward boys and their needs and interests. Even if Teddy Roosevelt liked the book as a boy, today's boys won't pick up a book that is girlish. That's why some writers use initials instead of first names--so the boy readers won't know the books are written by a female! Sadly, few books by women appear on school reading lists.

What is lost when boy don't read about family and community? Have we 'hypermasculinized' boys and condoned intolerance of the feminine?

Last of all, Rioux looks at the role models girls today have, from Disney princesses to the action heroines and warrior princesses, Rory Gilmore to Girls.

As a novel about young girls growing up, the March sisters offer readers images of what it means to be a girl and the choices girls have.

The novel, Rioux says, "is about learning to live with and for others," and it is about the compromises we make in life.

I highly recommend this book.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I have been anticipating this book for over a year. Finally, after pursuing several outlets, NetGalley came through. Reading Rioux's book did not disappoint. She divides the books into sections: discussing the background and publication of Little Women, commercial adaptions of the book, the relevancy of the story to different genres, and the timeless messages that are universally appealing. Rioux's writing is excellent and her research is thorough. It's sad to read that Little Women has dropped off reading lists in the last 25 years. However, I think it will make a comeback. I first read It when I was eight And identified with Jo. Amy continues to annoy me, Beth just hovers on the periphery, and I never could relate to Meg who ended up being domesticated. Honestly, although I've read some of Alcott's other works, nothing compares to Little Women. Young readers should at least be exposed to the classic tale, if nothing else to appreciate history. Rioux's book is a great commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Little Women.

Little Women has long been my favourite book, and over the years I have come in for some criticism for this view but now I have the answer - just make people read this volume.
It covers a biography of Alcott, the publishing history of the novel(s), the film and screen adaptations and then also some wonderful critical thinking on the book. I have always read it as a strongly feminist book but over the years this has been challenged by so many people I wondered if I had it wrong but here Boyd Rioux puts acrpss both sides of the debate so well that I feel well armed for my next conversation with my Little Women loathing friend. I will also be buying her a copy of this book!

I found the first half of the book most interesting: how the author came to write Little Women and the influence the book had on many writers. I also enjoyed the stories about the various movies, TV adaptations and stage productions. The story does resonate today as it shows the importance and resilience of families.

A detailed microhistory of the phenomenon of Little Women, one of the books I read to pieces growing up. Rioux unearths the underlying social issues beneath the story's surface, and explores adaptations over the years as readers and viewers attempt to make this story their own.

An interesting take on how Little Women has resonated with many over the years.