Mary McNamara: 'Little Women' is great but where is the Louisa May Alcott biopic?

At an early screening for "Little Women," director Greta Gerwig introduced her splendid new film by saying that when she was a child, she idolized the character Jo March, and when she was grown, she idolized Jo's creator, Louisa May Alcott.

The film, which opened last week to critical raves and robust box office, certainly bears this out. It takes the famously semiautobiographical tale a few steps further into memoir by granting Jo a few of Alcott's own tics (including the habit of switching hands when one became too tired while writing) and a fully realized career similar to Alcott's own. And as the audience Gerwig was addressing made instantly clear, she was not alone in her two-pronged adoration of work and author.

For many who came of age pre-"Harry Potter" or "Hunger Games," Jo March and, by extension, Alcott were lode stars. Classic literature abounds with