Overview
There are various anecdotes floating around about Walt Whitman writing this temperance novel while heavily drinking himself, which does explain why critics have called it “an incoherent and often aesthetically dissatisfying text.” The historian David Reynolds biographical accounts of Whitman include a claim that he wrote the novel in three days while drinking heavily. However, there seems to be some dispute about the veracity of this report. Whitman himself generally saw temperance virtues and movements favorably based on his written works as a journalist. It’s possible that the rumors or jokes persist as an explanation for the work being regarded as far worse than other writings from Whitman; perhaps Whitman himself found the explanation convenient. Some scholars interpret the work as a historical artifact rather than a literary work that represented Whitman’s own racism and bigotry despite a reputation among readers suggesting otherwise.