Who knew Louisa May Alcott was like that! And to think, Little Women is one of my favorite books. I am getting ready to start I Have My Mother's Eyes by Barbara Ruth Bluman.

I'd love to read Alcott's pulp fiction. Did she write under a pseudonym? I didn't think the pulp magazines were even around until the turn of the century, after her death.

Stu, according to Reisen, Alcott wrote under a number of pseudonyms, and about 30 of the pulp books have been found so far.

Jo smoking hash??!! Well, of all the Little Women I guess she's the most likely.

I just started a reading challenge called The Shelf Discovery Challenge, and there is an Alcott book (An Old Fashioned Girl) that want to read for it. I loved Little Women and now my daughter is reading it.

Dave,

Well, I hope Reisen's book includes bibliographic data for some of the pulp books! I'd love to see if any of her 19th century "trash" novels are (or make it back) in print.

Wow. I just recently bought some of her work at a library sale. Now I am more intrigued than ever to read this author.

I do like the fact she is made more "human" and real through these revelations. None of us is perfect, and as anyone will note, many authors throughout history were anything but perfect.

Who would have thought the woman behind Little Women smoked hash! I'd be very interested to read the real woman behind the book!

Right now, I'm reading a classic- My Antonia by Willa Cather. Anne of Green Gables meets Oklahoma! A hearty read!

This is the first I've heard of Louisa May smoking hash, but her father was a true original--a flower child before there were flower children. The family almost starved at times because of his dreamy ideas and lack of practicality. I think LMA's writing was a way to make sure everyone was fed. She was nothing if not pragmatic.

I have visited the Alcott home in Concord, Mass.--highly recommended.

Oh this book sounds like a great read for those of us who fancied ourselves Jo.

Dahlink, on the topic of flower children, I saw "Hair" in New York last weekend. It's a terrific, high-energy musical. Having never seen it before, I had a hard time picturing the reaction it must have generated in the late 60s. But it still packs a punch today, with the country fighting two wars. If you have the chance, see it.

Like Dahlink, I'd read that LMA's father was not exactly financially reliable. I'm not shocked at the hash revelation, but more like a little, "oh..."

I've been reading Rosemary Harris' mystery, The Big Dirt Nap. I'm having trouble staying involved.

Dave, I was around when "Hair" first appeared. As I recall, much of the buzz then was about the nudity onstage. Ho hum.

I forgot to mention that I just finished reading "The Blue Tattoo"--a non-fiction book about a young woman taken captive by Native Americans when her family was slaughtered in the 1850s. It's a fascinating study of how she assimilated with the Mohave, and then later her difficulties in returning to white society with the bright blue chin tattoo forever marking her as different.

Trying and failing to enjoy books by the Wondermark Comics people. Gentleman admirer just gave me "The Professor's House" by Willa Cather. I didn't win for Willa Cather last time, but hope springs eternal.

She secretly preferred to write pulp books with killers and transvestites...opiates and hash. Wow! who knew.

This week I read "Deadly Gamble" by Connie Shelton. It's the first in her Charlie Parker (despite the name, it's a SHE, and she's a CPA and a detective) mystery series. It was good -- and only 99 cents on the Kindle.