Book Description

"Mr. Kennedy has acquitted himself with great credit, and acquired permanent reputation, in sundry departments of literature - the biography, the satire, the descriptive narrative and the novel. His 'Life of Wirt' takes rank among the best of the American biographies....As a novelist the reputation of the author rests wholly upon 'Horse-Shoe Robinson.' This romance was originally published in 1835, and at once took firm hold upon the public fancy....At that time, the events of the revolution had bee little used in works of fiction. 'The Spy,' and 'Lionel Lincoln,' of Mr. Cooper, and one or more novels, by writers of less note, constituted, in that early day, the body of our romantic literature, founded upon events of the revolutionary period; and just enough had been done, in this field, to whet the popular appetite, and to indicate the excellent uses to which our struggle for independence might be put. 'Horse-Shoe Robinson' strengthened the popular faith to this effect....His merits lie in portraiture of character, and, especially, in a happy perception of the piquant and the humorous....The true attraction of the work lies wholly in the character of 'Horse-Shoe Robinson.' This is a faithful portrait of a frank, shrewd, generous, high-spirited backwoodsman; rough and untutored but warm and kindly; unlearned in books, but of admirable mother wit; quick in expedients, fertile in resource; of large experience; and of that buoyant nature which never knows how to succumb to misfortune, and so laughs under the pressure of fate as to take from it most of its sour aspects....He is one of our favorites, whom we hold in great respect as an author, and in great regard as a man. His book we cordially commend, as truthful in its spirit, and lively and attractive in its interest." -The Southern Quarterly Review