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James Fenimore Cooper was born on Septenber 15, 1789, in Burlington, New Jersey, and grew up in the frontier village of Cooperstown, New Yorrk, in the heart of the wilderness he was to immortalize in his frontier novels. A high-spirited youth, he was expelled from Yale because of a prank and was finally signed by the navy by his strong-willed father. In 1819 a trfling incident reportedly led to the writing of his first book. Reading aloud to his wife from a popular English novel, he exclaimed, 'I could write you a better book myself!' The result was Precausion (1820), which followed in 1821 by his first real success, The Spy. Cooper became a prolific writer, creating two unique genres that were to become staples in American literature - the sea romance and the frontier adventure story. The first of the famous Leatherstocking tales, The Pioneers, appeared in 1823 and introduced the wilderness scout Natty Bumppo. This detailed portrait of frontier life has been called the first truly American novel. In The Last of the Mohicans (1826) Natty Bumppo becomes the well-loved Hawkeye befriended by the noble Indian Chingachgook; the novel remains a favorite American classic. Other Leatherstocking tales were The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840) influenced both Herman Mel
Cooper's third novel is concerned with the quick-changing frontier land in 19th-century America. He tells us how 'beautiful and thriving villages' and 'academies (sic) and minor edifices of learning' quickly sprang up to show 'how much can be done in even a rugged country'. But even while he records the progress, Cooper clearly mourns for the disappearing wilderness. He gives it a representative in the worn, elderly man of the woods, Natty Bumppo, known as Leatherstocking. Ever in conflict with Judge Temple (based on Cooper's father) and his new pioneers, he stands as a protector of the older wilderness, of the Indian, of the simpler world of natural law. (Kirkus UK)
Writers' Journeys That Shaped Our...
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