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Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table Hardcover – May 3, 2016
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A fascinating and unusual chapter in American history about a religious community that held radical notions of equality, sex, and religion―only to transform itself, at the beginning of the twentieth century, into a successful silverware company and a model of buttoned-down corporate propriety.
In the early nineteenth century, many Americans were looking for an alternative to the Puritanism that had been the foundation of the new country. Amid the fervor of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening, John Humphrey Noyes, a spirited but socially awkward young man, attracted a group of devoted followers with his fiery sermons about creating Jesus’ millennial kingdom here on Earth. Noyes established a revolutionary community in rural New York centered around achieving a life free of sin through God’s grace, while also espousing equality of the sexes and “complex marriage,” a system of free love where sexual relations with multiple partners was encouraged. Noyes’s belief in the perfectibility of human nature eventually inspired him to institute a program of eugenics, known as stirpiculture, that resulted in a new generation of Oneidans who, when the Community disbanded in 1880, sought to exorcise the ghost of their fathers’ disreputable sexual theories. Converted into a joint-stock company, Oneida Community, Limited, would go on to become one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of silverware, and their brand a coveted mark of middle-class respectability in pre- and post-WWII America.
Told by a descendant of one of the Community’s original families, Ellen Wayland-Smith's Oneida is a captivating story that straddles two centuries to reveal how a radical, free-love sect, turning its back on its own ideals, transformed into a purveyor of the white-picket-fence American dream.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPicador
- Publication dateMay 3, 2016
- Dimensions6.42 x 1.06 x 9.64 inches
- ISBN-101250043085
- ISBN-13978-1250043085
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A lively and often entertaining account.... In Wayland-Smith’s extended chronicle, we see utopia as it sails through the world, assaulted on all sides by the forces of assimilation and greed."―The New Yorker
"Wayland-Smith is a gifted writer. Her lively account of how Oneida eventually succumbed to 'the gods of Science and Doubt' is a welcome change from most 'as told by' family histories."―The New York Times Book Review
“Remarkable… a detailed, riveting account.”―The Guardian
"Lively...[Wayland-Smith's] nuanced and empathetic book vividly captures the spirit of a brief historical moment."―The Boston Globe
"[A] fascinating, beautifully-told history."―The New Republic
“An incredible story.”―WBUR’s Here and Now
“An intimate, quirky family portrait.”―The Nation
"A gimlet-eyed book about Wayland-Smith's family history."―Gawker
"Drawing from letters, diaries, newsletters, and family stories, the author, an original-family descendant, adds inside information to this retelling of a radical movement’s transformation in the shifting current of American ideals. The narrative is engaging and detailed. This is a must-read for those interested in American social history, and should have broad appeal."―Booklist (starred review)
“[An] impressively thorough and engaging work…. This book is a fascinating look into the strange history of Oneida silverware and how its origins reflect an exhilarating period of American history.”―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“This compelling narrative seamlessly threads the unlikely alliance between a ‘free love utopia’ and a household brand name. Fans of Joseph Ellis and David McCullough will appreciate this engrossing entry.”―Library Journal (starred review)
“The spotlight Wayland-Smith shines on this remarkable community's beginnings and ending offers a riveting glimpse into the quintessentially American early-19th-century struggle with the rights of the individual and separation of church and state. A smartly contextualized tale of ‘the tension between radical social critique and unapologetic accommodation….between communal harmony and individual striving.’”―Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Picador; First Edition (May 3, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250043085
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250043085
- Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.42 x 1.06 x 9.64 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,607,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,619 in History of Christianity (Books)
- #9,326 in Christian Church History (Books)
- #29,088 in U.S. State & Local History
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Ellen Wayland-Smith is a Professor of Writing at the University of Southern California and received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from Princeton University. A descendant of John Humphrey Noyes, the founder of the Oneida Community, she lives in Los Angeles with her family.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book engaging and interesting. They appreciate the scholarly insights and useful context provided. The book is great for American history enthusiasts and provides an amazing family tale told by one of the Oneida.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They say the crisp, elegant prose keeps them hooked from beginning to end.
"...Her crisp, elegant prose keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end. A terrific read!" Read more
"This is a fascinating book--a wild ride from free love utopia in New York to the silver kings of Oneida...." Read more
"...Well-written and a riveting read." Read more
"The author is an English professor and this book reads as such. Lots of interesting insights, but don't expect an easy read...." Read more
Customers find the book interesting with useful context about the Oneida people. It provides scholarly insights and links relevant US history and culture. The book uses a rich trove of archival material and is great for American history buffs.
"...explores the darker corners of the utopian dream, using a rich trove of archival material...." Read more
"...It tends to draw out the book quite a bit, but it does provide useful context - other books on Oneida don't offer that...." Read more
"...Its great for American history buffs and an amazing family tale told by one of the descendants with the "inside" goods...." Read more
"...Lots of interesting insights, but don't expect an easy read. I found the sentences quite long and requiring full engagement...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2016A fascinating, insider's look at the Oneida community. Wayland-Smith explores the darker corners of the utopian dream, using a rich trove of archival material. Her crisp, elegant prose keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end. A terrific read!
- Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2020A pretty good book about the Oneida Community. It ties in a lot of relevant US history and culture. It tends to draw out the book quite a bit, but it does provide useful context - other books on Oneida don't offer that. The author does tend to interject with her own opinions and thoughts on the matter, yet presents them as fact. It's pretty obvious when it happens, but this is definitely not a work free of bias. Overall, a solid piece.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2016This is a fascinating book--a wild ride from free love utopia in New York to the silver kings of Oneida. Its great for American history buffs and an amazing family tale told by one of the descendants with the "inside" goods. I learned a lot about religion and advertising too. Waiting for the mini series!!!
- Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2016A must read for anyone interested in the evolution of religious movements in the United States.
Well-written and a riveting read.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2016The history part of this book was interesting - both the existence of religious 19th century Americans into free love and their adoption of the bland, family values life of modern times.
With most of it , as with many such academic written sociology books the author feels she has to be smarmy, and superior to the irony-lacking fanatics or morons that are her subject. It's just totally tiresome to read anymore - it's almost the first rule for the media and the academic set, to attack someone tabloid style ... while being literary and pretentious.
This author teaches writing - like all of her kind in education and media she likes to craft a narrative. Most or nearly all of the books (being churned out today) have this tendency to push one version of events to make their case sound stronger. Her career and life depends on it.
And she tries to play the dispassionate one, presenting two sides, weaving in and out of them, presenting it in ironic fashion, never making it fully clear which side she is on.
But for all this, her biases are clear - surprisingly she manages to avoid sprinkling the book with the word misogynist, sexist and so on ... but near the end of the book she stops beating around the bush to come out and call her ancestor a pervert. That language isn't explicitly used to describe the women - who were probably under the magnetic influence of her male ancestor.
People like her are also against utopians - it's understandable. Academics, Women, mostly intellectual types prefer the mundane, research oriented small picture.
There was also no need to suggest that this free-love group were 'weird'. If like the author, a nuclear family works for them, good for you. To suggest that people who don't fall into that one-partner rule is a pervert ... is a problem.
I'm not defending the cult like practices, the worst of which was probably the forced isolation of biological parents from their children. I just think this book, the thousands like it are overly cynical and one-sided.
I know the world and American society are very competitive and authors and journalists are required to write, turn out pieces, put out research papers, books or sometimes risk being fired (Interesting Guardian article on that). But this tendency where we read or write books to look for a target has got to come to an end.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2016The author is an English professor and this book reads as such. Lots of interesting insights, but don't expect an easy read. I found the sentences quite long and requiring full engagement. Also, she rambles a bit throughout philosophical and religious history.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2024I so enjoyed "Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table." The Oneida Community was a unique entity in the utopian landscape both before and after it's existence in the 19th century. I have read the intimate journals of members, academic articles and the obligatory internet pap. Because of her academic and literary credentials combined with the Oneida genealogy of her family, the retelling of the story by Wayland-Smith is a true treasure bringing to life the people, the challenges, the feats as well as dark chapters. This book is not going anywhere--it will remain a classic in the Oneida saga.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2016This is an interesting book about a very interesting group of people. It is not written as a novel, however, which causes the story line to lag a bit for the average reader. The author has approached this story of her family and Oneida from a scholarly viewpoint and has a scholar's insights as to the social and historical implications of the Oneida Community. I found it very interesting.
Top reviews from other countries
- telsurreyReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2022
2.0 out of 5 stars Not an easy read!
The author, without expertise in the many diverse topics discussed here, should be congratulated for attempting such a challenge. Arcane aspects of 19th century American religious groups, eugenics, the history of the Oneida Cutlery Company, were all covered, as well as the history of the Oneida Community.
I must admit, I found most of the book heavy going, especially after the break-up of the Community. The author, who was descended from former members of the Community, was determined to give us the whole story including this last bit tagged on the end.
In fact, I think the author was restrained from writing a better book by her closeness to the subject matter. To a modern reader, this is a classic story of a Cult. Its about a narcissistic leader, John Humphrey Noyes, who becomes a religious fanatic, and starts a Community of followers at Oneida, N Y State. It charts the progress of this experiment which lasts about thirty years.
If you are familiar with cults, you will have a pretty good idea what happens next. The leader is a benevolent leader but a 'control freak' like most cult leaders. His particular tools for controlling the group, which eventually reaches 300, are by his religious fanaticism, and by manipulating the sexual behaviour of the group. All the details are given by the author.
I think the author gives J H Noyes an easy run for his money. I finished the book with a distinct dislike for this very manipulative man. I thought he was using the whole set-up as a means of feeding his appetite for power and sex. Furthermore, there is evidence that he was also enjoying this power by 'grooming' under age thirteen year old girls and introducing them to sex for the group.
I don’t think the author explored this aspect as much as she should have done.
P S. George Bernard Shaw was Irish, not English.
- SCSReviewed in Canada on April 11, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars From breaking out of the confines of monogamy to celebrating romantic domesticity
This is an amazing look into the inside of a utopia that turned into a a sad end. Utopias have ended worse! However the fascinating story of the birth and death of fancy Oneida cutlery is an interesting addition which adds a layer of social history to the utopian dream. Well written, well researched with material unavailable before, this is both informative and fun to read.
- DrewReviewed in Australia on April 1, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars The decline and fall of a 19th century American utopian community
I found this book an excellent history of the Oneiden Community between 1860 and 2006. Lovingly documented by one of John Noyes descendants, the book traces the community from its roots in its founders psychotic religious experiences through its ultimate apogee as an apologist bourgeois corporation promoting American patriotic values during WWII.
The book is balanced, avoiding the easy temptations of salacious gossip around their unorthodox sexual practices or liberal judgements about their decline into neo-liberal managerialism and bankruptcy.
In an odd way, this book parallels a similar trajectory of American values across the same period. The community spans the last remnants of the Jeffersonian yeoman farmer through the transcendentalist vision and then the downward spiral into the inequalities of class, race and gender that characterize modern capitalism. The Oneiden community track this same trajectory their heterodox alternative community reflecting in the microcosm, the greater changes in the broader culture.
The book also treats the founder, John Noyes, with a sharp but compassionate eye. Neither judgement or hagiography mark the authors voice about her ancestors and she deftly situates the community within the press of cultural forces swirling through the 19th Century American psyche.
I enjoyed this book, it nicely balances critical distance and intimacy, it provides a unique insight into 19th century religious Utopianism.