... deftly pieced together ... a reader finishes this book feeling less sad for [Aronon] than grateful to her biographer for capturing the whole of this noble, crazy, glorious life.
Aronson’s biography pays Crystal Eastman the enormous respect of presenting her as a woman of parts in whom we see fused the best of American leftism with the best of Christian compassion and the near best of modernist courage. For this, I applaud it. But I also must say that this is an academic biography, meaning the author feels obliged to provide extensive explanations of the social, political, and cultural atmosphere surrounding every move Eastman made. The issues, the organizations, the internecine clashes are all here in somewhat wearying detail. It’s not that it isn’t all interesting; it’s just that Eastman herself gets lost for pages (and pages!) at a time. Only rarely—and then mainly through her letters—do we glimpse the progress of her inner life, gain any insight into her conflicts, her blind spots, her fearsome drive. In short, only rarely do we feel her alive on the page. These objections notwithstanding, Aronson’s book is prodigiously researched, the writing easy on the eyes, and it deserves, without a doubt, a place on any shelf of biographies devoted to the stirring history of American radicalism.
Aronson offers useful historical context when descrbring the causes Eastman championed: suffrage, anti-militarism, reproductive rights, socialism, pacifism, and world federation. This meticulously researched book shines when it shows how Eastman’s profound longing for motherhood inspired the most important theme of her writings: gender inequality in domestic relations ... An intimate look at her relationships with well-known reformers, including her brother Max, propels the narrative forward ... For academics and general readers interested in women’s rights and biographies of achieving women.
... disentangling Crystal’s story from Max’s and centering her in a full biography does more than simply amplify a drowned-out voice. It forces us to confront how we understand leadership and legacy in progressive movements ... Such a broad outlook threatens to dissolve into a haze, but Aronson makes a strong case for stepping back and seeing it clearly, and for seeing Eastman herself as a pivotal rather than a peripheral figure in the history of the American left.
... deftly chronicled ... Eastman’s work and its challenges feel sharply relevant to today’s changing world, and this engaging and careful biography will appeal to activists and students of history alike.
This dense and deeply researched biography features some distracting modern clichés (Eastman 'noted that her biological clock had been actively ticking' and found herself 'juggling work and family'), but Aronson leaves no doubt that Eastman was an inspiring figure who deserves the renewed attention that the book should bring ... A welcome reconsideration of an underappreciated early-20th-century journalist and activist.
