This is one of the books that started the new-historical feminist reinterpretation of books that suffer as "bestsellers" and "pulp" (often women's literature) as history (and a group of "insiders") decide what books go on to become "classics" and which do not. Tompkins reveals the historical and socio-political factors that affected Nathaniel Hawthorne's "classic" status and shows us why other authors, including Harriet Beecher Stowe and Susan Warner, slipped into relative obscurity and/or disfavor following their popularity during their lifetimes. She does not dispute the richness of Hawthorne's writing, rather points out that the "canon" changes over time, and the books that fall in or out are subject to individual and political pressures. For anyone who ever wondered "why aren't there more books by "women/minorities/--- fill in blank" in the canon, this book is AN explanation. Maybe not the only one-- but a good explanation in very accessible language.