Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)

Gr 9 Up–Heiligman delivers an engrossing biography of famed anarchist Emma Goldman. Born in Russia in 1869 to a poor Jewish family with an abusive father, she immigrated to the United States at 16, held a job at a sewing factory in Rochester, NY, for $2.50 a week, and quit when she wasn’t given a raise. In New York City, she found her calling in life, advocating for anarchism and fighting the oppression of the working class. Authorities were constantly trying to squelch her freedom of speech, proclaiming her the most dangerous woman in America yet Goldman became quite famous. She spent her life passionately and tirelessly fighting for the rights of the impoverished, giving her fiery speeches to crowds of thousands, publishing several books along with countless articles and pamphlets. Heiligman focuses on Goldman’s passion for her causes and time line of her life but also includes the more controversial aspects. Goldman’s lover, fellow anarchist Alexander Berkman was a proponent of propaganda of the deed—the use of action to instigate change, usually violent action. Black-and-white photos, extensive notes, and bibliography are included (index not seen). The work lacks a more detailed discussion of the tenets of anarchism and the lives of industrial workers and magnates to give young readers a more comprehensive understanding of the intersection of the movement and society in this turbulent period.