"In the hands of the accomplished local historian Carol Kammen, the record of a 1883 trial for the distribution of pornography in Ithaca, N.Y., becomes an extraordinary entry point for a meditation on smut then and now, the cultural significance of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, daily life in the village, the early days of Cornell University, the changing roles of women, and so much more. An engrossing tale well told." -- Mary Beth Norton, author of Liberty's Daughters and The Devil's Snare " Smut is a lovely book, and a smart one. It is gracefully written, humanistic (in the best sense of the term), and unswervingly generous. Ostensibly, it is the tale of two people caught in a trial about their ownership and possible sharing of pornographic photos in a small rural town, in the 1880s, home to the recently opened Cornell University. The trial might be a small local matter, interesting, and tragic for the two defendants, but in Carol Kammen's deft rendering, it becomes the locus for much that bedevils us today--authoritarianism, moral zealotry, newfangled technologies, and the unrelenting diminishment of women's agency.

As a gifted historian, Kammen writes with such joy, insight, and audacity that everything seems interconnected and luminous. No one writes better about the unseemly, with a sense of balance and humility. Smut, most powerfully, is an American narrative that reminds us that we are terribly and wondrously made." --Kenneth A. McClane, W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of Literature Emeritus, Cornell University "Armed only with a transcript, along with her astonishing grasp of what local history actually should be, Kammen deftly dissects the characters and the verdict of this fascinating pornography trial--and its aftermath.

" --Lauren Coodley, author of Upton Sinclair: California Socialist, Celebrity Intellectual and Lost Napa Valley "Carol Kammen is a riveting storyteller. Through the lens of an 1883 legal case in Ithaca, New York, Kammen shows us how late 20th century concerns about morality, sex, gender roles, and economic growth played out in at the local level, in a rapidly growing village at the headwaters of Cayuga Lake. The court testimony and cast of characters will frustrate, shock, and amuse you, and you won't want to put this book down." --Maria Cristina Garcia, Howard A. Newman Professor of American Studies and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, Cornell University "This is a fascinating book. It is purportedly the tale of an 1883 New York village pornographer's trial, but it contains interesting insights into everyday life in a growing, mid-19th century town. Commercial development, demographics, approaches to local history, developments in record-keeping, a realistic view of the administration of justice, the interplay of voluntary (some would say vigilante) organizations with the destitute, local officials and police, habits of dress, the history of pornography, the temperance movement, world fairs, early settlement of towns, family planning, schooling, and prison conditions all make an appearance.

It is exceptionally well-written, and there are surprises." --Bert Lazerow, Professor, University of San Diego School of Law.