Anthropology of an American Girl is the first novel by American author Hilary Thayer Hamann. It is the story of a search for authenticity told in the first-person voice of teenaged protagonist Eveline Auerbach. The semi-autobiographical literary novel contains an examination of the social and cultural pressures that prevent individuals from living meaningfully. It was independently published in 2003, and re-released in 2010 by Spiegel & Grau, a division of Random House, both times to critical praise. The novel has been compared to J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.
Hamann wrote Anthropology of an American Girl, a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about Eveline Auerbach, a young woman growing up in Reagan-era America. Hamann was inspired to write the novel after taking graduate anthropology courses at NYU. The novel was first published by Vernacular Press in 2003. Hamann did not send the manuscript to agents or publishers until Vernacular closed in June 2007. Anthropology was purchased for publication two months later by Spiegel & Grau, and was re-released in May 2010. The paperback version was released in June 2011.
The new version was edited by Cindy Spiegel, senior vice president and publisher of Spiegel & Grau, and former vice president and publisher of Riverhead Books, where she edited Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.
The book has been published in Australia by Allen & Unwin, in Italy by Fandango Libri, and in the UK by Constable & Robinson.
Plot
Critical reception: original version
Anthropology of an American Girl received strong reviews upon initial publication. Library Journal called the novel "Henry James meets the 21st Century," "intelligent and insightful." Also according to Library Journal, "Eveline, or Evie, is not a stereotypical 'American Girl'; nor is the book a standard coming-of-age story."
The Providence Journal cited the novel for its "gorgeous detail and nuanced thought" and "poetically rendered, astute perceptions." It stated that "Anthropology of an American Girl is an extraordinary debut, updating the 19th-century social-psychological novel of romance and manners. Like Jane Austen, George Eliot or Edith Wharton, H.T. Hamann critiques her era and culture through the tale of a precocious young woman buffeted by the accidents, values and consequences of her age."
Anthropology was praised by publications with diverse demographics. Ms. Magazine cited it for its "gorgeous language and brilliant observation," and Romantic Times Book Club Magazine called it a "magnificently intense love story," awarding the novel its highest possible rating.
The novel won a "Notable Fiction Award" from Writers' Notes (2004); ForeWord Magazine named it a Book of the Year "Fiction Finalist" (2003).
Critical reception: edited version
The novel received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called the book "exquisitely rendered," and added, "If publishers could figure out a way to turn crack into a book, it'd read a lot like this."
Kirkus Reviews also gave the novel a starred review, calling it a "closely observed, Holden Caulfieldish story of teendom" that is "intelligent and without a false note—a memorable work." The review added that "Eveline is a marvelously complex and tragic figure of disconnection, startlingly real and exposed at all times."
O Magazine said that the novel is "a realistic, resonant, and universal story," adding that "Evie has a deadpan delivery Holden Caulfield might envy." The magazine also stated that "Hamann's depiction of time and place is stunningly accurate."
The Washington Post praised it as "a very respectable and serious descendant of the work of D.H. Lawrence," adding that Hamann had created "a carefully devised, coherent world, filled with opinions that need to be spoken—and heard." It also called the novel "A stern rebuke to chick lit everywhere," adding that the story "reminds us that all human lives are potentially sacred; that no lives should be judged and dismissed out of hand; that young women, though seen for eons as primarily just attractive objects, actually possess soul and will and sentience."
According to the Chicago Tribune, "Hamann has a hugely engaging voice and one that is rich with social and psychological insights."
The Dallas Morning News said, "This impressive debut is epic but not overwrought, and brilliant without the slightest hint of smugness. A rare kind of novel—at once sprawling and intimate—whose excellence matches its grand ambition."