In Red Business, Walt Whitman readers can explore nearly all his notebooks and manuscript fragments from the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era. In addition to Whitman’s numerous accounts of Civil War soldiers, Red Business contains the infamous notebook in which Whitman records his feverish obsession with his young companion Peter Doyle, as well as several difficult to find, unpublished poems and essays.
Matt Miller and Zachary Turpin’s meticulous transcriptions of Whitman’s written materials allow readers to explore the often-neglected final chapter of Whitman’s life, as he battled ailments, prepared speeches, and received famous visitors, all the while continuing to write revealing new poems.
“Walt Whitman’s astounding Leaves of Grass grew from the period before the American Civil War, but the good, gray poet we know was formed in the crucible of the conflict. Matt Miller and Zachary Turpin introduce us to the first drafts of this mature Whitman in their expertly edited volume, a necessary addition to the shelf of every Whitman scholar and fan." —Jason Stacy, editor, Leaves of Grass, 1860: The 150th Anniversary Facsimile Edition
