Sensationalist literature and popular culture in the early American republic

the long version

"Previous samplers have not swept together the variety that the present editors have gathered, not invited readers to study this literature as part of a reassessment of 'taste' within the general populace of the early American republic, especially in the years 1780-1810.". "The Main headings in the book are: Courting Credulity; Ghosts, Apparitions, Tall Tales; Crimes and Confessions; Extraordinary Masculinities; Evites, Amazons, and Fabulous Females; Fantastic and Harrowing Voyages; Exotic Lands and Strange Customs; Marvels of Science and Medicine; Marvellous Animals, Creatures, and Beasts; and Sensational Journalism."--BOOK JACKET.