Which begs the obvious question: How on earth did Emily Dickinson get a television series before Louisa May Alcott did? I cannot be the only one who longs to see Frances McDormand as the adult Alcott guiding us through a biographical limited series on HBO or Hulu can someone who knows her call and see if she’s interested?Īpple TV’s “Dickinson,” which premiered in November on Apple TV+, has been praised ( and in some circles criticized) for its exuberant and consciously modern reimagining of a life too long defined by solitary eccentricity. With its success and almost immediate demand for sequels - “Little Men” (1871) and “Jo’s Boys” (1886) - and other girl-centric stories, including “An Old-Fashioned Girl” (1869), “Eight Cousins” (1875) and “Rose in Bloom” (1875), Alcott created a franchise and became a literary celebrity. Alcott quickly wrote “Good Wives” (what is now the second part of “Little Women”) and by the end of 1869, the combined book had sold nearly 40,000 copies, a 19th century blockbuster. March, sold out its 2,000-book initial run in days when 6,000 more were printed, they sold out too. Published in 1868, “Little Women,” which ends with the return from the Civil War of Mr. Classic literature abounds with recognizably human boys and young men overcoming adversity and pursuing adventure, but for those seeking heroines, there was only Alcott and mostly “Little Women.” Jo, with her wild imagination, famously bad temper and desire to be a soldier rather than a knitter of socks, resonated with any young woman who longed to follow a path marked “men only.” Legions of female authors still cite “Little Women” as an enduring influence. And as the audience Gerwig was addressing made instantly clear, she was not alone in her two-pronged adoration of work and author.įor many who came of age pre-“Harry Potter” or “Hunger Games,” Jo March and, by extension, Alcott were lode stars. It takes the famously semiautobiographical tale a few steps further into memoir by granting Jo a few of Alcott’s own tics (including the habit of switching hands when one became too tired while writing) and a fully realized career similar to Alcott’s own. The film, which opened last week to critical raves and robust box office, certainly bears this out.
At an early screening for “Little Women,” director Greta Gerwig introduced her splendid new film by saying that when she was a child, she idolized the character Jo March, and when she was grown, she idolized Jo’s creator, Louisa May Alcott.
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