Shouldn’t Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women occupy the same top shelf in American literature as, say, Tom Sawyer?

Alcott wrote the beloved coming-of-age account of four Civil War-era sisters in response to a publisher’s request for a girls’ story. She delivered an enduring classic – published 150 years ago next month – drawing from her own experiences with her three sisters.

In a discussion of her new book Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters, University of New Orleans English professor Anne Boyd Rioux joins the Library’s director of readers’ services, Kaite Stover, in examining the making of Alcott’s masterpiece, its popularity, and its lasting influence. It has connected generations with male and female characters who don’t conform to traditionally feminine and masculine roles and inspired women’s writers from Susan Sontag to J.K. Rowling.