American Nervousness, 1903: An Anecdotal History

by Tom Lutz

Hysteria, insomnia, hypochondria, asthma, skin rashes, hay fever, premature baldness, inebriety, nervous exhaustion, brain-collapse--all were symptoms of neurasthenia, the bizarre psychophysiological illness that plagued America's intellectual and economic elite around the turn of the century.

In this lively and compelling book, Tom Lutz explores the origins and impact of 'American nervousness' on the lives and work of such diverse figures as Theodore Roosevelt, Henry and William James, Edith Wharton, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. He maintains that this disease, perceived as a sign of "extraordinary spirituality and sensitivity," helped the American upper class to come to terms with radical changes in social life: labor unrest, the beginnings of overseas empire, a massive influx of immigrants, the addition of growing numbers of married women to the workforce, and countless technological advances.

"Tom Lutz brings back into modern awareness one of the least understood but most fascinating illnesses of the late Victorian period.…[A] marvelous book."
-- Wall Street Journal

Genres: Psychology

331 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1991

About the author

I have just published the third volume of my travel writing, THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS ()October 2021). A volume of photographic portraits of people I've met on the road is coming out in February 2022, PORTRAITS: MOMENTS OF INTIMACY ON THE ROAD.

A book of philosophical and literary critical reflections, AIMLESSNESS, was published in January 2021 by Columbia University Press.

My first novel, BORN SLIPPY: A NOVEL was published in January, 2020 (Repeater/PRH).

I've just sent a sequel, STILL SLIPPY, to my agent.

I am the author of two earlier books of travel narrative — And The Monkey Learned Nothing and Drinking Mare’s Milk on the Roof of the World — the cultural histories Doing Nothing and Crying; literary histories Cosmopolitan Vistas and American Nervousness, 1903; pieces for New York Times, LA Times, ZYZZYVA, Exquisite Corpse, New Republic, Salon, Black Clock, Iowa Review, and other places.

I’m a Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at the UC Riverside, the founding editor in chief of the Los Angeles Review of Books, founder of The LARB Radio Hour, The LARB Quarterly Journal, The LARB/USC Publishing Workshop, and LARB Books. I am a part-time musician, an amateur photographer, and a full-time dilettante. I live in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Bella Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really useful explanation of neurasthenia and American literature - especially pertinent was the exploration of political and polemical thought at the turn of the century.

[Alasdair Ekpenyong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambitious synchronic history of the relationship between neurasthenia in the medical discourse, realism in American literature, and Progressivism in American politics.