Weavingatapestryofcreativityandcircumstance,thislaudedchronicleofthemanylinksandserendipitousmeetingsbetweengiantsofAmericanculture--fromHenryJamestoGertrudeSteintoZoraNealeHurstontoMarcelDuchamp--nowincludesanewafterwordbytheauthor.RachelCohen’sAChanceMeetingisadazzlinggroupportraitthatoffersastrikingnewvisionofthemakingandremakingoftheAmericanmindandimaginationfromtheCivilWartotheVietnamWar.Howdoesthehappenstanceofdailylifebecomehistory?Cohenshowsus,describingaseriesof,nowboldly,nowsubtly,transformativeencountersbetweenawideandsurprisingrangeofAmericans.AyoungHenryJameshashisportraittakenbythephotographerMathewBrady--Brady,whowillreceiveWaltWhitmaninhisstudioanddepictGeneralGrantonthebattlefield.Later,W.E.B.DuBoisandhisprofessorWilliamJamesvisitHelenKeller;EdwardSteichenandAlfredStieglitzargueaboutphotography;andLangstonHughesandZoraNealeHurstonwriteaplaytogether.Throughout,Cohen’snarrativeloopsbackandleapsforwardwithsupremeagility,connecting,amongothers,WillaCather,ElizabethBishop,MarianneMoore,BeaufordDelaney,JamesBaldwin,andRichardAvedon.InAChanceMeeting,RachelCohenoffersanabidingaccountofthecontinuingchallengesandtheastonishingachievementsofAmericanlife.
