The Gentleman in the Garden: The Influential Landscape in the Works of James Fenimore Cooper examines the profound and previously unrecognized relationship between landscape and social standing
in the works of James Fenimore Cooper. Russell T. Newman looks at the use of landscape in a wide array of Cooper’s novels to illustrate the great author’s distinctive outlook on what it meant
to be a gentleman in the early days of America. Both a broad overview of Cooper’s works and an in-depth examination of his views on society. The Gentleman in the Garden is more than a glimpse
into the pioneer aesthetic of one of America’s earliest authors. It demonstrates how Cooper redefined the concept of the gentleman to suit American life. Only in the land of democracy,
opportunity, and rolling countryside could a true Cooper gentleman emerge.
