The Dangers of Fiction.

In the early days of the American republic, critics considered fiction a swooninducing form that muddled the heads and the morals of readers (most of them susceptible young women). Many early novels did indeed focus on crime, intrigue, and illicit sexuality. A book peddler might advertise his wares with the cry "Seduction! Revolution! Murder!" William Hill Brown (1765-1793), whose The Power of Sympathy (1789) is generally considered the first American novel, admitted that "this species of writing hath not been received with universal approbation." Eager to win approval for his novel, Brown emphasized its positive qualities: "the dangerous Consequences of SEDUCTION are exposed, and the Advantages of FEMALE EDUCATION set forth and recommended." Although the novel form had eased into respectability by the 1870s—thanks to popular American authors such as James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), Nathaniel Hawthorne...