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Freeman is best known today for her short regionalist fiction. Recently, Freeman studies have taken new turns including ecocriticism, trauma studies, the Gothic, and queer theory. The essay collection pushes these developments further. Contributors aim at revisiting and going beyond Freeman's regionalism. They challenge earlier feminist readings of the female realm by arguing that her short fiction and novels depict women and girls as violent and criminal, suffocating as well as nurturing; they bring to light questions of race and ethnicity that have been conspicuously absent from scholarship on Freeman, as well as issues of class. Because questions of women's work are central to Freeman's oeuvre, this collection discusses Freeman's acumen as a businesswoman herself, a participant as well as a castigator of turn-of-the-century US capitalism. Finally, essays reconsider the periodization of Freeman by exploring her little acknowledged post-1902 and therefore post-marriage fiction—her war stories and her urban stories.

Transatlantic Footholds: Turn-of-the-Century American Women Writers and British Reviewers analyses British reviews of American women fiction writers, essayists and poets between the periods of literary domesticity and modernism. The book demonstrates that a variety of American women writers were intelligently read in Britain during this era. British reviewers read American women as literary artists, as women and as Americans. While their notion of who counted as'women'was too limited by race and class, they eagerly read these writers for insight about how women around the world were entering debates on women's place, the class struggle, religion, Indian policy, childrearing, and high society. In the process, by reading American women in varied ways, reviewers became hybrid and dissenting readers. The taste among British reviewers for American women's books helped change the predominant direction that high culture flowed across the Atlantic from east-to-west to west-to-east. Britons working in London or far afield were deeply invested in the idea of'America.''America,'their responses prove, is a transnational construct.

Whether you work in Hollywood or not, the fact is that selling ideas is really difficult to do. The reason the pitching secrets of the most successful writers and directors are relevant is because these people have evolved an advanced method for selling ideas. Whether you're a screenwriter, a journalist with an idea for a story, an entrepreneur with a business plan, an inventor with a blueprint, or a manager with an innovative solution, if you want other people to invest their time, energy, and money in your idea, you face an uphill battle…. When I was at MGM, the hardest part of my job was not cutthroat studio politics or grueling production schedules. The toughest part of my job was whenever I had to say “No” to an idea that was almost there. I had to say no a lot. Every buyer does. The buyer's work is to say yes to projects that are ready, not almost ready. And no matter how good the script is, if the seller can't pitch it in a compelling way, how can the buyer see the potential? How can he get his colleagues on board? How can he recommend the seller to his superiors? The fact is that poor pitches doom good projects.It happens all the time. The ideas, products and services that are pitched more effectively… win. That's just how the game is played. No sense getting upset over it. Instead, let's accept the challenge and learn the strategies and tactics that will allow us (and our ideas) to succeed.-From GOOD IN A ROOMBusiness consultant and former MGM Director of Creative Affairs Stephanie Palmer reveals the techniques used by Hollywood's top writers, producers, and directors to get financing for their projects - and explains how you can apply these techniques to be more successful in your own high-stakes meetings. Because, as Palmer has found, the strategies used to sell yourself and your ideas in Hollywood not only work in other businesses, they often work better. Whether you are a manager or executive with an innovative proposal, a professional with a hot concept, a salesperson selling to a potential client or investor, or an entrepreneur with a business plan, GOOD IN A ROOM shows you how to: Master the five stages of the face-to-face meeting Avoid the secret dealbreakers of the first ninety seconds Be confident in high-pressure situations Present yourself better and more effectively than you ever have before Whether you want to ask for a raise, grow your client list, launch a new business or find financing for a creative project, you must not only present your ideas in a compelling way - you must also sell yourself, as well. GOOD IN A ROOM shows you how to construct a winning presentation and deliver the kind of performance that will get your project greenlighted, whatever industry you are in.