Transcendental Wild Oats by Louisa May Alcott is a satire, somewhere in length between a short story and novella, about her family’s misadventures as part of the Fruitlands community in the 1840s. It was first published in a New York newspaper in 1873.

Alcott thinly disguised the members of the Transcendentalist community. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott was a co-founder of the community. In the fictional version he became “Abel Lamb.” Her mother, Abigail May Alcott, is presented as “Sister Hope.”

Louisa makes no attempt to soften the truth in her satire, portraying Abel Lamb is an impractical dreamer; Sister Hope actually feels hopeless —overworked and frustrated by the hapless men. Read More→