Eugene Field, a Study in Heredity and Contradictions — Volume 1

The volume offers an unconventional portrait of a 19th‑century poet whose self‑portrait would have been a witty blend of fact and fancy. Rather than a straight chronology, it explores the contradictions that defined his personality—his love of children, his ribald humor, and his oddly modest view of genius. The author frames the story as a study in heredity, using both family background and the subject’s own mischievous philosophy to set the stage.

A highlight is the wildly imaginative biography Field once penned of a fellow journalist, full of invented origins in Bohemia, Jerusalem, and a fictional “New Jerusalem Messenger.” That episode illustrates his talent for turning truth into playful fiction, while also revealing the circles of newspaper men and religious sects that surrounded him. Readers get a lively sense of his humor, his disdain for conventional “useful knowledge,” and the way his eccentricities shaped both his work and his lasting reputation.