Uncovering the lost composition of Walt Whitman has become a piece of an inadvertent pursuit for Zachary Turpin . Last springtime , the University of Houston grad studentuncovered“Manly Health and Fitness , ” a well-nigh 50,000 word essay full of wind for healthy living , which Whitman wrote under the playpen name Mose Velsor in 1858 . Luck was on Turpin ’s side again last summertime when he came acrossLife and Adventures of Jack Engle , a serial tarradiddle thatwas advertised inThe New York Timeson March 13 , 1852 as “ an motorcar - life , in which we will be handle the philosophy , philanthropy , penury , law , crime , love , matrimony , ethical motive , etc . , which are characteristic of this smashing metropolis at the present time . ” In actuality , it was a novel by Whitman that has remained obscure in the famed poet ’s archive for nearly 165 eld . Until now .
Today , The Walt Whitman Quarterly Reviewmade the full text of the novel — whichThe New York Timesdescribes as a “ quasi - Dickensian tale of an orphan ’s adventures”—available online , while the University of Iowa Press will make itavailable in playscript form .
While Turpin describes the novel as “ rollicking , interesting , beautiful , beautiful , and flaky ” and compares it to “ a pre - advanced Thomas Pynchon , ” Whitman expert andWalt Whitman ’s Americaauthor David S. Reynolds is a bit more succinct with his reexamination : “ It ’s not a great novel , though it ’s not a bad read either,”he toldThe New York Times .
ThoughJack Englemay miss a compelling narrative , it offer a unique glimpse into the literary psyche of Whitman , who seemed to be using the novel as a room to explore the humanity — and writer — he long to be , or , asThe New York Timesput it , “ how a workaday diary keeper and mostly schematic poet translate himself into the generator of the sensuous , philosophic , wildly experimental and altogether unclassifiable liberal rhyme ofLeaves of Grass . ”
“ It ’s like see the workshop of a great writer , ” read Ed Folsom , editor ofThe Walt Whitman Quarterly Review . “ We ’re discovering the process of Whitman ’s own discovery . ”
[ h / t : The New York Times ]
