Average customer rating:
- Tension between personal development and a tight-knit community
- My Favorite by Allegra Goodman
- One of my favorite books of all time
- stars fall on cucumber pies
- Where is the plot?
|
Kaaterskill Falls
Allegra Goodman
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Family Saga
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Popular Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Book Clubs
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Intuition
-
The Family Markowitz
-
Paradise Park: A Novel
-
Total Immersion
-
Out of Egypt: A Memoir
ASIN: 0385323905
Release Date: 1999-08-10 |
Amazon.com
Allegra Goodman's remarkable first novel intertwines the stories of three Orthodox Jewish families, each of whom is tugged between religious tradition and the secular world. The story takes place in the upstate New York town of Kaaterskill, summer Mecca for the tightly knit Kirshner sect. Model wife and mother Elizabeth Shulman pictures her community as a sort of Mont-Saint-Michel, an island both joined and separated from the outside world as if by rising and falling tides. Fascinated with what lies on the spiritual mainland, she hides behind the reassuring rhythms of religious observance, though she's inspired with a "desire, as intense as prayer," to create something all her own.
Despite her pious husband's doubts, she does, in the form of a store catering to Kaaterskill's "summer people"--a community Goodman brings memorably to life. The Shulmans' neighbor Andras Melish, a Hungarian who fled World War II and a vanished world of assimilated European Jewry, struggles to understand his young Argentinian wife Nina, whose need for tradition grows with each passing year. The ailing Rav Kirshner must decide which son will carry on in his shoes: dutiful but plodding Isaiah or his brilliant but secular brother Jeremy. Andras and Nina's daughter befriends an Arab girl, while Elizabeth and Isaac's daughter dreams in secret of Israel. Meanwhile, the town's year-round residents observe the Orthodox newcomers with bewilderment and occasional dismay.
As she proved in a warm and funny 1996 collection of stories, The Family Markowitz, Goodman is an unparalleled observer of human nature. Here, she charts with quiet assurance the daily rhythms of Kaaterskill: the meals prepared and eaten, the Holy Days observed, the ebb and flow of married life. Goodman gets all the important details right; her children's dialogue, for instance, is unerring. Above all, however, she brings to the subject of religious life a seriousness and subtlety rarely found in recent fiction. Wise was the word used again and again to describe The Family Markowitz. Applied to Kaaterskill Falls, it is no less apt.
Book Description
In the summer of '76, the Shulmans and the Melishes migrate to Kaaterskill, the tiny town in upstate New York where Orthodox Jews and Yankee year-rounders live side by side from June through August. Elizabeth Shulman, a devout follower of Rav Elijah Kirshner and the mother of five daughters, is restless. She needs a project of her own, outside her family and her cloistered community. Across the street, Andras Melish is drawn to Kaaterskill by his adoring older sisters, bound to him by their loss and wrenching escape from the Holocaust. Both comforted and crippled by his sisters' love, Andras cannot overcome the ambivalence he feels toward his children and his own beautiful wife. At the top of the hill, Rav Kirshner is coming to the end of his life, and he struggles to decide which of his sons should succeed him: the pious but stolid Isaiah, or the brilliant but worldly Jeremy. Behind the scenes, alarmed as his beloved Kaaterskill is overdeveloped by Michael King, the local real estate broker, Judge Miles Taylor keeps an old secret in check, biding his time....
Customer Reviews:
Tension between personal development and a tight-knit community.......2007-01-11
This is a tight, sociological and psychological novel about a community of Orthodox Jews; although she follows many intersecting characters, this is primarily the story of a young, married woman with five children who wants to express her personality apart from being a homemaker while staying within the community. The theme is reflected in the development of some of the children. It's moving and it moves!
My Favorite by Allegra Goodman.......2006-06-21
I first read this book a few years ago and have since re-read it, recommended it, and given it to many people. The setting, an orthodox Jewish family in the Catskills one summer in the 1970's, does not sound very promising as a popular reading book, but of course that's the joy of really great writing. And Allegra Goodman is definitely a great writer: funny, insightful, casually profound. I've enjoyed everything I've read by her, beginning with a short story I found in a collection of Great Stories by Jewish Writers. Totally unknown to me and up next to works by Singer and other icons, her story in the collection was easily the best, in my opinion. I'm not Jewish, I might add, nor particularly interested in "the varieties of religious experience," but then she doesn't write about religion per se. Her characters are just very interesting people. That said, the culture her characters inhabit is fascinating and entirely accessible. I used to teach Comparative Literature at the college level, and I would definitely recommend this book to teachers, and students, as well as anyone else who has an imagination and knows good writing when they see it.
One of my favorite books of all time.......2005-10-01
The first time I tried to read this book, I put it down after about 70 pages. Nothing was happening! Then I picked it up again and was mesmerized. Allegra Goodman tells this story through the eyes of multiple characters -- I can't even count how many points of view she uses -- and it works, in a quiet, seamless way. She makes it look easy to keep track of that many characters and have them all work together. This is a vast novel that suggests a great depth. It is a deeply spiritual novel without being "religious."
stars fall on cucumber pies.......2004-10-17
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! this book was a frog among eels! (...) I cant beleive i wasted my time reading it!!!! if your wondering about the title of this reveiw, i felt that this book was like something falling out of the sky and landing in something mushy!!!! if you have any sense, read "1 singular sensation." Love ya!
Where is the plot?.......2004-09-13
This is one of those books where a lot happens but nothing is really resolved or accomplished. The best-developed plots were about Elizabeth wanting her own store and the ailing Rav Kirsher's conflict over whether to pass the reins down to his secular and unmarried but brilliant son Jeremy or his more more rigid, sectarian, and observant son Isaiah, who has a wife and child. Still, even when those plots get resolved more or less, nothing really comes of them that drastically affect the plot or the outcome of the entire story. There were also the characters who disappeared without any reason or explanation, like Una, the old woman who lives alone, and Renee's non-Jewish friend Stephanie and her family. There were so many interesting things going on that I wish would have been developed into something more, like Chana's illicit interest in Israel, Andras's growing struggle against his wife's religiosity, and Michael King's secret, but nothing really gets wrapped up or accomplished, not even with the two best-developed storylines. And as a number of other reviewers have pointed out, there are glaring inaccuracies about how a Hassidic or right-wing Orthodox community would have been keeping kosher, in the Seventies or even today, such as how they're eating food in the houses of people who aren't in the same group as they are, or eating products that don't have the stamp of approval from their own people, or the supervision of the goods that are being shipped to Elizabeth's store in Kaaterskill Falls. Although at least it was interesting, in spite of being full of dead-end plots.
Book Description
A hiking companion and history of the heart of the Catskill Park and Preserve--the region including Kaaterskill Falls, Haines Falls, North Lake Campground, the Catskill Mountain House and the northeastern high peaks and escaprpment.
Average customer rating:
|
Kauterskill Falls, 1795-1895
Ronald M Decker
Manufacturer: Mountain Top Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Catskills
| New York
| States
| United States
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0006DJTNA |
Book Description
Elizabeth Nightingale found peace and tranquility on her nightly walks through the rich, dense forests surrounding Myfleet Manor. But the peace she treasured was shattered one night when she found death waiting in the woods. Chief Inspector Wexford and his colleague Inspector Burden find a most unsavory case on their hands -- and must use all their wit and wisdom to solve it . . .
Customer Reviews:
Good with a super ending.......2006-02-18
I don't think this is one of Rendell's best Wexford novels but it does have a good plot, a diverse cast of characters and some thought-provoking material. If you enjoy Wexford novels then you'll be missing out if you don't read this one eventually, but it isn't one of my favourites. The best part of the book was the ending, which I found to be very surprising and shocking.
This time Wexford is investigating the murder of Elizabeth Nightingale, living a dull, well-off life in the country with her husband Quentin. Their marriage is completely passionless and sexless, but someone reacts violently enough to Elizabeth to murder her on one of her evening walks in the forest. Then along come Detectives Wexford and Burden to crack the case and drag up the psychology behind the characters.
Perhaps one of the reasons why I'm not raving about this novel is because the type of characters shown in it are my least favourite - a wealthy upper class couple, their servants and wealthy, upper class friends. I much prefer a detective novel that focuses on normal people rather than the Master and Mistress of the house and their stereotypical rough and uneducated working class servants. This certainly isn't a side of England that I recognise anymore and Rendell's newer Wexford novels reflect this, tending to focus on all different kinds of people in the social scale without being stereotypical. One of my favourite characters was Sean Lovell, whose thwarted ambitions to become a singer were strangely touching, particularly when Wexford overhears him pretending to be a popstar in his shed (we've all done it, haven't we? :-) )
The novel also looks at what it means to be a woman in 1970s Britain. Unfortunately, the females in this novel are probably the weakest characters, such as a housewife who has given up her job to devote herself to her husband who doesn't really seem to like her anyway and a rather silly Swedish au pair. One of the themes of the book seems to be `what makes a good woman'. What strikes me is that in this book the men act pretty much as they like without anybody commenting on their behaviour, but every aspect of each woman is judged and examined. It made interesting, if frustrating, reading.
Overall, a good book with a brilliant ending. Due to the publication date of this novel (early 70s) it is rather old-fashioned, but the psychology is still relevant.
Enjoyable, but not Rendell's usual great work........2002-10-09
. . . . . . . .. .. . .~ - * * * - ~
~ - ~ This was not one of Ruth Rendell's best. Her strength is usually in creating believable characters in almost un-imaginable situations.
~ - ~ In this story, the Lady of the Manor, Elizabeth Nightingale, is murdered in the forest right near her home. Most of the characters seem like stereotypes. There is the wealthy husband who doesn't really understand his wife. Upstairs lives the Au Pair - a young Dutch woman apparently only interested in her sex life. The housekeeper and gardener speak nothing but praise of their employer. The young under-gardener worships the "Lady of the House", and believes she's promised him help in his wish for a career as a DJ and a singer. Her brother is a neurotic scholarly writer who dislikes his sister. Her sister-in-law may benefit from the will.
~ - ~The book is entertaining, but not nearly as absorbing as Rendell's usual. You may be able to guess the killer and motive. The ending was a surprise to me, but not nearly as powerfully surprising as Ruth Rendell's usual twists and turns. Inspector Wexford hardly did any inspecting, mostly listening to a narrative from a friend of the family. Even just listening to the tale of the family's history seemed to take an inordinately long time- 3 or 4 days of conversations.
~ - ~ This book is entertaining, and easy to get interested in. However, for a sample of the best of Inspectors Wexford and Burden- I suggest two much more absorbing books: "Road Rage" and "No More Dying Then"
A completely unexpected outcome.......2001-07-18
This was an enjoyable book because there were several possibilities presented, but the person who was responsible for murdering the victim was unexpected.
I had no idea of where the case was headed and was surprised at the end. An excellent read. Ins. Wexford is a favorite.
Excellent murder mystery.......1998-11-11
Terrific vintage Rendell, one of the best Chief Inspector Wexford mysteries. The wealthy and beautiful Elizabeth Nightingale is murdered one night in the woods, and it is up to the intelligent, cantankerous Wexford and his sidekick Burden to solve the crime. This appears at first to be a fairly ordinary mystery; the leisurely pace and sharp humor may fool the reader into thinking that this is a peaceful, quiet novel. The final revelation, however, is disturbing and shocking, one of the author's most gripping and powerful conclusions. Otherwise, a fairly light, literate, entertaining mystery, written in Rendell's irresistably readable prose style, filled with ingenious plot twists and numerous red herrings. A bravura performance; even this comparatively minor work shows that Rendell can easily outwrite the vast majority of her contemporaries.
Product Description
8 massmarket paperback Titles in Chief Inspector Wexford Series - From Doon with Death - Wolf to the Slaughter - Best Man to Die - A Guilty Thing Surprised - No More Dying Then - A Sleeping Life - An Unkindness of Ravens - Death Notes
Product Description
9 massmarket paperback Titles in Inspector Wexford Series - Death Notes - An Unkindness of Ravens - Means of Evil - Wolf to the Slaughter - Sleeping Life - Murder Being Once Done - Best Man to Die - Guilty Thing Surprised - Speaker of Mandarin
Average customer rating:
|
Tom Judge: The Rapture
Paul Jenkins , and
Clayton Crain
Manufacturer: Top Cow Productions/Image Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Horror
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Fantasy
| Graphic Novels
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
Image Comics
| Publishers
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
General
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Top Cow/Marvel: The Crossover Collection Vol. 1
-
DC/Top Cow Crossovers
ASIN: 1582403899 |
Book Description
The events that will rock the Top Cow Universe got their start here!
Book Description
A guide to understanding and preventing peanut allergy attacks.
Everything parents need to know to protect themselves and their children from the most deadly food allergy.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful overview of handling peanut allergy.......2007-04-24
This book thoroughly covers all the basics of peanut allergy. It would be an excellent guide for someone new to the allergy. I have read other books and websites and I have been dealing with my child's severe peanut allergy for years, and I still learned a lot from it. It would also be a good resource for schools.
Very informative book.......2005-11-03
This is a very comprehensive book on peanut allergies. It is written for children, teens and adults who have peanut allergies. I was made aware of things I had not even thought about before. I also became more relaxed as I learned how to handle allergic reactions such as these. I highly recommend this book if you have a person who has peanut allergies in your home or not. This is an allergy that is becoming more prevalent and we should all be aware of how to protect and help those of all ages that have this allergy. If you yourself have this allergy it will provide much needed enlightenment as to what all the tests are for, what to be careful of, and what to do should you ingest peanut.
GREAT BOOK !! .......2005-10-06
THE BEST BOOK I HAVE READ ON PEANUT ALLERGYS TO DATE
MY DAUGHTER HAS A FRIEND WHO IS ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS AND I WAS SCARED TO HAVE HIM VISIT OR EAT WITH US BEFORE I FOUND THIS TERRIFIC BOOK .... NOW I AM CONFIDENT THAT HE CAN VISIT AND IF ANYTHING HAPPENS , I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO ...
I ALSO KNOW HOW TO PREVENT HIM FROM BEING EXPOSED TO PEANUTS IN MY HOME
VERY EASY TO READ AND COVERS EVERY POSSIBLE QUESTION YOU COULD HAVE ABOUT PEANUT ALLERGIES
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Amazon.com
In Going with the Grain Susan Seligson, "wandering bread lover" and well-published journalist, takes us on a trip around the world. The one thing that these far-flung locations and cultures share--from the Jordanian desert to Saratoga Springs, New York to Shanagarry, Ireland--is bread. Each chapter is a short story in itself. Most of them tell the tale of a well-traveled soul, filled with wanderlust and obsessed with bread. The staple of every culture she visits, the breads come in every size, color, shape, texture, and flavor imaginable, but the real stories lie in the making and baking. Some of her destinations have absolutely no other attraction except the bread and its baker, but the richest among them offer much more than that. Seligson is curious and energetic, open-minded and funny--a combination that makes for interesting reading. Explore the magical Brijendra's kitchen in New Delhi; learn the almost confidential recipe for the United States Army's bread (patent 5059432, with a three-year shelf life); and meet Huntsville, Alabama native Aunt Eunice, famous for her Country Biscuits (recipe included). If you love to eat (and not just bread) and love to travel, Seligson is an entertaining companion. --Leora Y. Bloom
Book Description
To award-winning journalist and tireless traveler Susan Seligson, bread -- whether it's a crusty baguette, a round of pita, or a flat of matzo -- is nothing less than the currency of a culture, a reflection of people's beliefs, their daily lives, and blood memories. Passionately curious, Seligson has an eye for finding meaning in everyday rituals. In Going with the Grain, she stalks pillowy round loaves on their way to and from the communal bakeries of Morocco's ancient city of Fès, witnesses the painstaking creation of what may be the world's most expensive artisanal pain au levain, and tours the gleaming, sterile steel innards of a mammoth Wonder Bread factory.
In prose shaped with conviction and leavened by wit, Seligson introduces us to the food engineer of the U.S. Army bread project working in the laboratory to create a palatable bread with a shelf life of three years and the Alabama octogenarian for whose biscuits devotees happily drive an hour each way for breakfast. From the tents of Jordan's Wad~ Musá to the schmurah matzo factories of Brooklyn, from the kitchens of New Delhi to the granaries of the lush Irish countryside, Seligson braids her adventures with fascinating historical detail and lively personal reflections about this most fundamental of foods. Whether bread appears in its simplest form, a mixture of flour and water baked on a blazing hot surface, or as the product of modern scientific ingenuity, its importance is best expressed by the Arabic word aysh. It is also the word for "life."
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining but ..........2005-01-09
I was really looking forward to reading this book. I'm a serious home bread baker and assumed the author must be a baker too. Not so. Her style is witty and and an easy read, but as the book went on I found the chapters less about bread and more about the author's adventures. The recipes she included are mostly unusable. There is a factual error in one of her statements, that ever since Tuscans started omitting salt from their bread several hundred years ago, Italians have been making saltless bread ever since. NOT true! The recipe for French bread after all the rhapsodizing on artisanal French breads was for one made in a bread machine. Please ! The sections on Morocco and Jordan were outstanding, and those on the Wonder bread factory and the US military's Frankenbread were terrific contrasts.
An exuberant, joyful romp.......2004-08-01
What a joyful, exuberant book this is. Seligson is compassionate, funny, self-effacing, inciteful and fearless. Unless you're humor impaired you'll laugh throughout while this intrepid reporter hops around the globe showing us how diverse cultures worship the ancient tradition of bread making.
Her writing is filled with fine-honed, priceless gems. I love this book!
Disappointing.......2004-07-27
I enjoyed the first chapter of the book which was what I expected the book to be about i.e. bread in one global country. As each chapter went by, the book became less about bread and more about the author forcing her personality on the reader. It was a limited collection of travelogues, many in the USA, with bread as the intended link between chapters. If you want to read a second rate travel book with something about bread in each chapter this is the book for you. If you want to read a well thought out book on comparitive breads around the world look elswhere.
Fun and fascinating.......2003-03-25
This isn't just another travel book with a gimmick: as Seligson points out, bread is central to almost every culture in the world, so observing how people make their distinctive form of bread tells us a great deal about their approach to life in general. The author is curious, a good observer, and respectful of the people she visits; so not only are her stories fascinating, but she's able to take us into situations where tourists are rarely welcome. I was favorably impressed with her chapter on horno bread: when it turns out that the pueblos aren't eager to welcome yet one more travel writer, she respects their wishes and adopts a low-key approach rather than becoming invasive (or writing a whiny "my bad experiences with the Indians" piece, which seems to be a far too common practice!). (I should add that horno bread varies widely: the loaf she tried was uninteresting, but I recently got a loaf from San Felipe pueblo that's right up there with the boutique farm breads.) As a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, I was sorry that Seligson didn't explore sourdough in more depth, although, as she notes briefly, commercial starters have taken their toll (so it's not just cranky old age that makes me insist that "it doesn't taste as good as it used to"!). But that's just a quibble; in general, the book is fun to read and surprisingly informative, and I recommend it highly.
A Fun and Informative Travel Tale.......2003-01-03
I had to keep reading tidbits to my wife, for fear she would steal the book away from me when I put it down. In reading Susan Seligson's book, "Going with the Grain", I learned a lot more about bread, than I thought I would be interested in. If someone would have suggested reading a book on bread, I would have turned it down," another cook book". I love cookbooks, but this is no cookbook. Although I have tried a few of the recipes at the end of each chapter, that were quite successful.
I love traveling, and have been to a number of the countries that Susan traveled to. I felt drawn into every location, by her descriptive and exhilarating style, and intrigued by the people she came in contact with. Each chapter would bring me to a very different culture, with people and their cuisines as diverse from each other, as their breads were.
Susan seems to have her own unique way of getting herself in and out of interesting situations. This makes for some very fun and upbeat reading. You really want to know what she will be up to next. I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful book.
Book Description
The Case Cutlery Dynasty: Tested XX is the extraordinary story of Americas oldest and largest family of knife makers. Since the Civil War, four generations of relations have started over 30 cutlery companies, creating some of the most collected knives in the world. Their products are as rugged as the masters who made them. The Case family was, and remains, a melting pot of personalitiessome as wild as the West they helped to settle. The book is written by a Case descendant, Brad Lockwood, who is an award-winning author of four books and was raised in Little Valley, New Yorkonce known as The Village of Knives. Covering 140 years of artisans in business, all related by blood but fiercely competitive, The Case Cutlery Dynasty shows how history becomes mythology over time, money is sometimes thicker than blood, and how a single family from humble beginnings came to dominate an important American industry.
Customer Reviews:
Very interesting.......2007-08-14
Was very interesting to find out how many family ties Case had to other companies. Gives a great insight to how foreign imports have affected U.S. manufacturing over the years.
Great piece of historical literature.......2006-01-14
I must warn you that this review may be prejudiced; I am a direct decendant of Jean Case, the son of the last Case decendant still manufacturing knives and a high school acquaintance of the author. Still, I would like to share an objective view of this text from a historical point of view. My undergrad degree is in American Civilization and I am currently completing my Masters in 20th Century American History. I found Brad's book thoroughly engaging and though provoking from this perspective. Following the Case family is a microcosm of westward expansion, the industrial age, the progressive era, the Great Depression through the catastrophic effects of free trade and foreign importation. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists and economists could all benefit from reading this compelling text. I am going to recommend that members of our faculty use it in 19th or 20th cen. Am. Hist. classes.
I never knew any of this.......2005-08-16
I'm a huge fan of author Brad Lockwood, having read all of his novels ("Wink" rules and "Sellout" will be a great film) but I was a bit confused when I saw he had a non-fiction book coming out. Now, I don't know anything about knives, only from using them in my kitchen, but this book is truly amazing. I knew Brad could write, but I never realized how far he could take the story of his family - almost 2 centuries of knife makers - and make a very "testosterone heavy" industry so interesting. Wow! Buy this book - It isn't just about forging steel, it's about the women who put up with their husbands being away for months on end, and somehow kept the family together. A great, fast, truly informative historical read. It took me 3 days. Rereading it took 4.
Book Description
Whether you want to create a tailored jacket, sew a collar that lies flat, fashion a one-of-a-kind special-occasion outfit or learn the subtleties of working with faux leather, the information is in this book. You will also find detailed instructions based on Clotilde's years of experience and sewing expertise. It's like having Clotilde in your sewing room to answer your questions as you plan and create each new clothing project.
Customer Reviews:
YOU MUST OWN THIS SEWER'S BIBLE.......2007-03-08
This is the PERFECT book for any beginning sewer, and every advanced sewer needs this book on their reference shelf. This book will guide you through needle selection, interfacting selection and application, recommendations on the correct hem for each type of fabric, and on and on and on. If you have a problem, Clotilde has the solution, in an easy to read format, with clear diagrams, and easy to look up and find the solution to your problem. This edition is up to date with the latest fabrics, including fleece and slinky (also known as "travel knit"). This is like the "Betty Crocker Cookbook" of sewing. You MUST have this book.
Product Description
Tips and helpful hints from Clotilde. Supplement includes Tailoring Solutions, Ultrasuede Undercollar, Cutting Cautions, Skipped Stitches, Proper Pockets, Finishing Touches, and Which Size Pattern? A useful supplement to your sewing library.
Average customer rating:
|
A Round Indiana: Round Barns in the Hoosier State
John Hanou
Manufacturer: Purdue University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Indiana
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Home Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1557530378 |
Book Description
Of the 226 round barns that are known to have existed in Indiana, more than 100 have vanished from the landscape, thus depriving the state of beautiful landmarks and testimonials to the ingenuity of turn-of-the-century agriculture and architecture. The author's admiration for the round barn's grace and his concern for its survival is evident on every page as he traces its history from George Washington's 1793 sixteen-sided barn to the development of the "Ideal Circular Barn" and associated patents to the demise of the structures in the second half of the twentieth century. By combing through family letters, agricultural journals of the time, advertisements, and other often-forgotten documents, Hanou offers fascinating glimpses of the individual farmers, builders, and architects who championed the innovative construction techniques. Through imagination and hard work, these men created their own market for round barns; in the year of peak construction, fifteen barns were built.
Average customer rating:
|
Barns of Indiana
Donald Howard Scott
Manufacturer: Donning Company Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Residential
| Building Types & Styles
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Building Types & Styles
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Home Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Decoration & Ornament
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Indiana
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0898659957 |
Product Description
Including "Types of Barns" an essay by Marsh Davis
From the front flap: "The traditional American barn is rapidly disappearing from the rural scene. This book is, in retrospect, a recording of the gestation, maturation, and demise of those barns along with the sturdy families who built them."
Average customer rating:
|
Moments in time
Robert Leslie Wallis
Manufacturer: RLW Publishing LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Landscape
| Painting
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: B0006S7EL4 |
Book Description
This commemorative edition of Amish Acres: Stamps of Approval is being published to coincide with The United States Postal Service First Day of Issue Ceremony for the “Amish Quilts” commemorative stamps to be held at noon, August 9, 2001 on the Joseph Stein Stage of the Round Barn Theatre at Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana. The theatre is the National Home of “Plain and Fancy,” the 1955 Broadway musical about Amish life and love, celebrating its 15th season at the historic farm. The stamps celebrate the contributions of Amish quilters over the last two centuries across America to their distinctive and practical art form.
Frank Ramirez and Richard Pletcher have collaborated to create this history of Amish Acres and the development of the Round Barn Theatre into one of the nation's busiest regional musical theatres. The book is divided into two sections. The first covers the history of the acquisition, preservation and restoration of the Stahly-Nissley-Kuhns farmstead into Amish Acres heritage resort. It has subsequently become the only Old-Order Amish farm listed on The National Register of Historic Places. The second section, “This Wooden O,” follows Ramirez's insight into each theatrical production that has taken the stage of the Round Barn Theatre over the last decade and a half. He explores each musical for its message as it fits within the Golden Era of musical theatre in America, then critiques the individual merits of each show's artistic, performance and technical team. Together they create patterns of human life, love and interaction among those of different backgrounds enriching our capacity to appreciate and tolerate others who differ from our own cultural backgrounds.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Indiana Business Magazine, published by Curtis Magazine Group, Inc. on April 1, 1998. The length of the article is 608 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Barnstorming: retired banker has photographed some 230 Mail Pouch barns across the state. (Tom Plimpton)
Author: Steve Kaelbe
Publication:
Indiana Business Magazine (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 1998
Publisher: Curtis Magazine Group, Inc.
Volume: v42
Issue: n4
Page: p5(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Product Description
Featured by Eric Sagerquist and His Orchestra
Customer Reviews:
Just Superb.......2006-09-12
Ms. Fountain writes a touching and accurate account of her father, John Gilbert, one of the biggest stars of the 1920s.
The stoy of John Gilbert is also the story of early Hollywood. Gilbert hits Hollywood while still a teenager and his determination to succeed mirrors Hollywood's determination to become America's dream factory. Gilbert was totally in love with filmmaking and took any job he could in order to learn about movies, acting, cameras, writing, directing.... he loved it all.
The scrawny kid made friends and enemies as he slowly climbed the ladder of success to become a well known figure by the late teens. Along the way he met and loved many woman, married a few, and made some very dangerous enemies.... most notably Louis B. Mayer.
By the mid-20s John Gilbert landed a series of important films that rocketed him to the very top of the Hollywood heap and by the end of the silent era he was the single biggest star in the business. But his fall from grace was just a swift and he unfairly became the single biggest symbol of failure as Hollywood transitioned from silent films to talkies.
Gilbert's lasting legen is now based on malicious lies, studio hatchet jobs, the undying hatred of Mayer, and the idle and incorrect gossip that still claims John Gilbert had no voice for talkies and was a passe symbol of the old fashioned "great lover."
Anyone who has seen one of John Gilbert's talkies knows his voice was not his problem. Gilbert remained, through a series of rotten films picked out for him by Mayer, an amazing actor, a dashing figure to rival any, and a movie star of the highest calibre.
Gilbert was a boozer and a womanizer but he was also a brilliant actor who wanted nothing more than to act. His wives and lovers included Greta Garbo, Leatrice Joy, Ina Claire (my grandfather's cousin), Marlene Dietrich, and Laurette Taylor. But his passion was always MOVIES and ACTING.
Gilbert's daughter, Leatrice Joy Fountain, writes a wonderful and loving biography of the father she hardly knew. The book is meticulous in its research and compassionate in its examination of people caught up in love and movie making. Fountain also dares to expose Louis B. Mayer as the most vicious and vindictive man in the history of Hollywood and she also presents a new and tarnished image for the sainted Irving Thalberg. A great biography about one the Hollywood's greatest stars.
A Daughter's Love Letter to Daddy.......2006-02-18
Though clearly written with a heart full of love for a misunderstood and complicated man, this book is even-handed, clear-eyed and well researched. John Gilbert was sometimes his own worst enemy, and Leatrice Gilbert Fountain has enough integrity not to let her love for him cloud the truth of that. This is one of the best silent film biographies I have ever read (and I've read a great many), and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in a well-told tale. Whether you are a Gilbert fan or not - whether you're a silent film fan or not - this is a story worth your time.
A loving honest biography.......2005-09-04
To date I've only seen a handful of Jack Gilbert movies, but I still count him as one of my favorite male actors, based not only on what little I've seen so far but also all of the wonderful things I've read about his great talent and what a wonderful nice kind person he was as well. This loving biography only confirms that Jack was a very talented capable performer and kind and giving in real life as well. Many biographies written by children of the stars go either one of two ways--nasty and vituperative, working out one's issues by attacking the parent, or overly candy-coated, unable to say a single bad word about the parent. Leatrice clearly adored her father, but that doesn't mean she's afraid to tell it like it is when need be. She's very up-front when writing about some of Jack's problems, like with keeping a marriage together and some of the problems he had with alcohol. Her parents split up a few months before she was born, but for various reasons Jack was never able to be really fully involved in his daughter's life until his final year, when Leatrice was ten and eleven years old. They really became close and bonded that year, after she sent him a fan letter and discovered that her daddy really loved her and had always been thinking about her, had long hoped she would contact and confide in him when she got older, might have been an absentee father physically but never emotionally (for example, one summer a few years before they began their loving father-daughter relationship, Jack saved Leatrice from drowning at the beach when she was swimming alone among some rough tides, out of sight of the other people on the shore).
Besides paying loving tribute to her father, Leatrice also wrote this book to set the record straight. For decades a lot of misinformation had been told and retold about her father's acting career and capabilities, particularly about why he fell from grace. The reasons for his plummet from being the top male romantic lead to someone who was put in very few quality talking pictures were many and complex, but mainly driven by how Louis B. Mayer had always hated Jack and really sabotaged his career. All of the stories about LBM really are true; he does not come across as a nice person in any of them, the way he never forgot a personal slight or things he interpreted as insults, even though they weren't even intended that way, sabotaging many careers because of this paranoia and quest for personal revenge. The real power at MGM, Irving Thalberg, was everything LBM wasn't--kind, gentle, generous, thoughtful, helpful, and most importantly a dear friend of Jack's, though unfortunately even he was eventually unable to save his career, and Leatrice believes he felt guilty about how he couldn't and didn't do more to help his friend and defend him against LBM when he had the chance. She delves into the reasons for her father's lackluster career in sound pictures with the same honesty and depth she does when discussing why her parents' marriage broke up and why they never got back together, even though they really did seem to love one another powerfully. Jack had a pleasant light baritone, even though many otherwise respectable books and film historians had repeated the lie about how he had a squeaky high-pitched whiny voice and was laughed offscreen after his talking debut, and thus driven into excessive alcholism and an early grave. People would repeat these stories and quote one another, without providing any solid evidence, and without even having seen that first full-length talkie, 'His Glorious Night,' to be in any valid position to say he had a whiny effeminate voice. Leatrice also discusses how her father was not the alcoholic of legend either; he did drink, sometimes heavily, but he wasn't the wasted alcoholic many people made him out to be either.
Besides setting the record straight on the real reasons behind her father's early grave and his freefall from grace at the box office, Leatrice also does a wonderful job at telling her father's early life story (as well as her mother's story). This was a true rags to riches story, with young Jack (then known as Cecil) growing up on the road, going from stage to stage with his mother and the other actors in their troupe, farmed out to various friends of his mother, sometimes treated quite badly, but never letting such bad times get to him or scar him. He also developed his lifelong love of the printed word and high culture during his childhood, becoming an intellectual bookworm who could never amass enough books. Jack was still a teenager when he began his acting career and working in itinerant jobs away from the stages he had grown up on, and at the time he entered films in 1915, acting was a very dangerous profession; as an extra he oftentimes literally risked his life. These were the days before unions, days off, adequate pay, and rest breaks, and in the absence of modern-day special effects, these actors and extras had to do all of their own stunts, even if they got seriously hurt. The death rate for actors was shockingly high in the Teens. But somehow he managed to rise above his early uncertain beginnings and became a leading man within only a few years of starting to act, as well as, for a time, also directing and writing, having been mentored by some of the leading lights of directors of those days, such as Thomas Ince and Maurice Tourneur. He was so much more complex than the rumors would suggest. My only minor complaint is that I wish the filmography in the back had been a little more detailed, such as noting who played whom and which of these films are lost. A few films she mentions in the main text as being lost, but it seems obvious, given the poor survival rates of silent films, particularly ones from before the Twenties, that a good deal of Jack's early films would be lost.
"Dark Star" Is A Grand Tribute To A Grand Actor.......2003-09-14
The legendary John Gilbert is universally recognized as the most tragic figure in silent film history. His career was suddenly shot down via subterfuge while he basked in the sunshine of artistic success and unsurpassed popularity. A definitive biography of this icon of silent film had been long overdue when Leatrice Gilbert Fountain penned this splendid retelling of her Dad's glorious career. As all movie buffs know, John Gilbert was the "Great Lover of the Silent Screen," the successor to Wallace Reid and Rudolph Valentino. In fact, following Valantino's death, Gilbert reigned supreme as Hollywood's leading man from 1925 to 1929. It was in that fateful, latter year that the seemingly well-liked, easy-going Gilbert was done in by Louis B. Meyer, the autocratic head of MGM. It was in 1929 that Gilbert's life and career, like the stock market, came crashing down. Literally left standing at the alter by his real-life paramour Greta Garbo, the crestfallen Gilbert bumped into the tyrannical Meyer at King Vidor's and Eleanor Boardman's wedding reception(which was to have been a double ceremony with Gilbert and Garbo also tying the knot) and the mighty mouse mogul promptly advised Gilbert to "just go on screwing the dame---why marry her?" Gilbert responded with a right cross to the little dictator's chin, sending him sprawling on the ground. "I'll destroy you, Gilbert, if it costs me a million dollars," was Meyer's vindictive promise. Gilbert's first full-length talkie, "His Glorious Night," premiered later in 1929 and many insiders at the time believed that Meyer did indeed sabotage the screen idol's career by turning down the bass and maximizing the treble on the film's soundtrack. The result was devestating for Gilbert, who ordinarily had a light baritone similar to Ronald Coleman's or Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. What should have come across as a pleasing if not deeply resonant voice sounded disturbingly high-pitched to an audience that quickly found humor in the incongruity between the virle Gilbert image and his seemingly Tiny Tim voice. Combined with stilted acting on the part of his co-star and the dated dialogue which made Gilbert appear as if he were reciting a heartfelt Elizabethan sonnet to a completely bored--even comatose--lover, the death knell was struck. A poor showing in an actor's talkie debut---even an actor as popular as Gilbert--- was a difficult blemish to erase. Voted the most popular actor in Hollywood in 1928, by the end of 1929 Gilbert's name was not even listed among the top one hundred. Thus began the decline into the abyss. Gilbert sank deeper and deeper into depression and alcoholism as Meyer, Thalberg (who promised to help his "friend", but never mustered the courage to stand up to the malignant dwarf Meyer), and the rest of MGM's greedy, self-interested big wigs refused to let Gilbert out of his contract while at the same time handing him the worst scripts on the lot. Gilbert was left without a career and without any self-esteem. Leatrice recalls how the defeated Gilbert arrived one morning at his MGM dressing room to find his belongings already removed and the star on his door replaced by that of a different actor. His final years were sad, and several comeback attempts (such as his starring role opposite Garbo in the 1933 period film "Queen Christina") failed to restore his once brilliant star. The new kids on the block like Gary Cooper, Robert Montgomery, and Clark Gable were now all the rage. A broken man, Gilbert died in 1936 at the tragically youthful age of 37. However, thanks to his daughter Leatrice's well-documented and haunting biography, her Dad's star shines again. The author paints a portrait of her father as a man and as an actor that is loving without sacrificing historical objectivity. Jack Gilbert had charisma, good looks, an amiable personality, and genuine acting ability. He was indeed one of a kind. It is a real shame that his life was destroyed by a coarse, unattractive, maniacal movie mogol who ruled his petty tyranny ... This is a great read. I recommend it with great fondness and enthusiasm.
A "Silents Majority" review of "Dark Star".......1997-11-19
Autobiography's are sometimes a tough read simply because "Truth" can be colored to favor or sanitize the individual who writes about him or herself. Memoir's written by the children of the famous tread an even more precarious path. Bitter children can write damning or un-flattering portraits. Adoring children can sugarcoat the subject so much that your teeth hurt after reading each chapter.
Dark Star, (St. Martin's Press, 1985), by Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, John Gilbert's daughter, has successfully become her father's biographer. She has objectively brought together the great and not-so-great moments and events of his life. Leatrice is the daughter of John Gilbert's first marriage to Leatrice Joy (the famous leading lady who followed in Gloria Swanson's fashionable footsteps as Cecil B. de Mille's perfect woman.)
Ms. Fountain's research is impeccable regarding Gilbert's background and career. A detailed filmography and general index is included. Young Leatrice lost her beloved father when she was just blossoming into her adolescence. She felt compelled to piece together and solve the mystery of Gilbert the man and the artist. Her search becomes our search, her discoveries become our link with the man and his bittersweet life and legacy.
For me, the discovery of this book redefined my devotion and interest in silent film entirely. The story of John Gilbert gave me a deeper passion to become an active participant in the preservation/revival movement of silent film. Dark Star is extraordinary and genuinely moving. Ms. Fountain's noble goal to connect one's perception to the complex person that this actor was, and to place John Gilbert as the premier romantic leading man of the glorious silent era has been accomplished.
- Copyright, 1997, Diane MacIntyre, "The Silents Majority"
Books:
- Learning to Look at Modern Art
- Lust Unearthed: Vintage Gay Graphics From the DuBek Collection
- Malinche Spanish Version: Novela
- Many Faces of the Face: Art for Children Series
- Masterpieces of Painting from the Portland Museum of Art: 24 Full-Color Postcards (Card Books)
- Metamorphosis: The Ultimate Spot-the-Difference Book
- Mortal Faults
- Moving Pictures: Contemporary Photography and Video from the Guggenheim Collection
- Nightclub Nights: Art, Legend, and Style 1920-1960
- Nordic Dawn: Modernism's Awakening in Finland 1890-1920
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Robert Rauschenberg: Combines
- Panda Puzzle
- Microstructures, Mechanical Properties and Processes
- Solibo Magnificent
- Schaum's Outline of Introductory Surveying
- Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
- Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
- Legend, Myth, and Magic in the Image of the Artist: A Historical Experiment
- Nancy Hanks, An Intimate Portrait: The Creation of a National Commitment to the Arts
- Angiogenesis: The Growth of the Vascular System
