William Brennan
William Brennan (CAS’59) of Annandale, Va., just finished his sixth novel, Harrigan (CreateSpace Publishing, 2014 ), which examines the impact of American Transcendentalism on the working classes of Boston during the period leading up to the Civil War. William writes that the book “was inspired by classwork in CAS on the American Renaissance, enhanced by many hours of rumination in the Commons and the Dugout, and gestated over more than half a century. Readers are able to reacquaint themselves with the American Renaissance and to glean some of the early stages of liberal Catholicism, the conservative reaction to that trend, the waning of the first phase of Transcendentalism as Abolitionism stole its thunder, the role of the Know Nothings in cowing Catholic immigrants, faint echoes of Hamlet and King Lear; early rumblings of existentialism, and more.” Email William at brennan944@verizon.net.
From the Winter-Spring 2015 issue.