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Katherine Anne Porter: Collected Stories and Other Writings (Library of America #186)

Katherine Anne Porter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Eudora Welty said that Katherine Anne Porter “writes stories with a power that stamps them to their very last detail on the memory.” Set in her native Texas and her beloved Mexico, prewar Nazi Germany and the gothic Old South, they are stories of love, outrage, betrayal, and spiritual reckoning that are severe but never cruel, and always exquisitely precise. They number fewer than thirty, but as Robert Penn Warren commented, “many are unsurpassed in modern fiction,” and when gathered in one volume in 1965 they won their author both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. The Library of America now reprints that landmark volume, The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter, and pairs it with a completely new selection from Porter’s long-out-of-print short prose. Expanding the contents of her 1952 collection The Days Before to include both early journalism and major pieces from her final three decades, the prose works collected here are grouped in four parts: critical essays on writers she loved and learned from, including James, Cather, Lawrence, and Colette; personal essays and speeches on such topics as the craft of writing, her own work, women in myth and in history, and American politics; essays and reports on Mexican life, letters, and revolution; and two previously uncollected forays into autobiography.

Holidays on Ice

David Sedaris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

As always, a great read from David Sedaris 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

What else can you say, but it is yet another well written Sedaris book. I am always amazed at the wonderful sense of humor this writer has. Dark, dry sense of humor without sounding above it all.

Editorial Review:

David Sedaris's beloved holiday collection is new again with six more pieces, including a never before published story. Along with such favoritesas the diaries of a Macy's elf and the annals of two very competitive families, are Sedaris's tales of tardy trick-or-treaters ("Us and Them"); the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to the French ("Jesus Shaves"); what to do when you've been locked out in a snowstorm ("Let It Snow"); the puzzling Christmas traditions of other nations ("Six to Eight Black Men"); what Halloween at the medical examiner's looks like ("The Monster Mash"); and a barnyard secret Santa scheme gone awry ("Cow and Turkey").

No matter what your favorite holiday, you won't want to miss celebrating it with the author who has been called "one of the funniest writers alive" (Economist).

The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time (In Two Lines or Less)

John M. Shanahan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

You don't have to be a genius to sound like one. Here's a collection of the most profound and provocative wit and wisdom in the English language in two lines or less. Edited by entrepreneur John M. Shanahan, who created the wildly successful Hooked on Phonics program, this wonderful book presents the best that has been thought and said on every imaginable topic.

Classified by such themes as "Truth, Lies, and Deception," "Men, Women, and Relationships," and "Passions, Virtues, and Vices," these quotes contain timeless messages for all humankind. Oscar Wilde: "A man who marries his mistress leaves a vacancy in that position." Charles de Gaulle: "The cemetery is filled with indispensable men." Abraham Lincoln: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Sophocles: "Men of ill judgment oft ignore the good that lies within their hands, till they have lost it."

Perfect for anyone who has ever been left speechless, this book will make you as glib as Oscar Wilde, as profound as Winston Churchill, and as wise as Aesop. Inspirational, entertaining, and thought-provoking, this is one collection that no library or bookshelf should be without.

Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals

Robert M. Sapolsky

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

How do imperceptibly small differences in the environment change one's behavior? What is the anatomy of a bad mood? Does stress shrink our brains? What does People magazine's list of America's "50 Most Beautiful People" teach us about nature and nurture? What makes one organism sexy to another? What makes one orgasm different from another? Who will be the winner in the genetic war between the sexes?

Welcome to Monkeyluv, a curious and entertaining collection of essays about the human animal in all its fascinating variety, from Robert M. Sapolsky, America's most beloved neurobiologist/primatologist. Organized into three sections, each tackling a Big Question in natural science, Monkeyluv offers a lively exploration of the influence of genes and the environment on behavior; the social and political -- and, of course, sexual -- implications of behavioral biology; and society's shaping of the individual. From the mating rituals of prairie dogs to the practice of religion in the rain forest, the secretion of pheromones to bugs in the brain, Sapolsky brilliantly synthesizes cutting-edge scientific research with wry, erudite observations about the enormous complexity of simply being human. Thoughtful, engaging, and infused with pop-cultural insights, this collection will appeal to the inner monkey in all of us.

The Best American Essays of the Century (The Best American Series)

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The title The Best American Essays of the Century seems transparent enough, but don't be deceived. What Joyce Carol Oates has assembled is not so much a diverse collection as a sonorous march through what keeps getting called the American century. Read this not as a collection to dip into but as a history--a history of race in America. Oates says it best herself in her introduction: "It can't be an accident that essays in this volume by men and women of ethnic minority backgrounds are outstanding; to paraphrase Melville, to write a 'mighty' work of prose you must have a 'mighty' theme." The mighty pens at work here belong to, among others, Zora Neale Hurston ("How It Feels to Be Colored Me"), Langston Hughes ("Bop"), and James Baldwin ("Notes of a Native Son"). Oates has opted not for the most unexpected but for the most important and stirring essays of our time.

Other chords sound repeatedly as well: the problem of our relationship with nature (Annie Dillard, John Muir, and Gretel Ehrlich); the difficulty of identity in disrupted times (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Joan Didion, and Michael Herr). In her essay "The White Album," Didion famously declares: "We tell ourselves stories in order to live." The stories Oates has collected are not easy. Here is the hard-won truth, from writers unwilling to forgive even themselves. Even Martin Luther King Jr. doesn't let himself off the hook, as he writes in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail": "If I have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything in this letter that is an understatement of the truth and is indicative of my having a patience that makes me patient with anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me." --Claire Dederer

A Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writing

H.L. Mencken

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A book for pricking poo-flinging monkeys 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 17 people found this review helpful.

"but my sense is that his times were really the last 1900s, not even the times when he wrote."
-- Bruce Applebaum

Does the man who wrote this presume to judge between good and bad writing?

Mencken was, in a literal sense of the term, a prick. He seems to have surveyed his society for inflated egos to deflate with his acrid pen. Mencken is dead, but the sensitive stuff of which Mr Applebaum's ego-baloon is made is easily punctured. Even Mencken's ghost can do it, and has. As his deflating ego sqeeked out its last whine, Mr A. became indignant, set out pugnaciously for revenge on Mencken by writing his blurb, and tripped over his shoelaces.

If you are the kind of nitwit that flings words like ``racist'' and ``bigot'', like an angry monkey throws his poo, at any white man bold enough to suggest that the different races may have different attributes, than you need to read this book. The prick of it may send you howling from your tree, but you may find your way out of the jungle.

Editorial Review:

A choice selection of H.L. Mencken's previously out-of-print writings. Highly recommended!

The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Modern Library Classics)

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Eye Opening Essays 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

If the words of Whitman do not prompt one to at least explore the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson, nothing I say will be able to (or should). I suppose though many readers have merely seen Emerson's name after a famous quote or heard it mentioned by others and are curious about what he wrote.

The books contains his most essential, influential essays. Each contain classical Emerson thought, unique, hard to pin down, literary... Emerson was known for "trumping the logicians" and appealing to the soul of man. Indeed he does.

I have not read this book in its totality, but of the works I have, I have read thoroughly, as thoroughly as I have read perhaps anything, and I must say there is something undeniable about Emerson's reasoning. It is not logical in the dry fashion of philosophy, yet it is poetically, "humanly" appealing.

All I can say is read Emerson. He was and is one of America's most influencital writers. Some like him, some hate him, some appreciate though not totally agree with things he sets for (like myself). This particular book presents a good overview of his most renowned works, is affordable, and has a nice introduction. Highly recommended.

Editorial Review:

The definitive collection of Emerson's major speeches, essays, and poetry, The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson chronicles the life's work of a true "American Scholar."

As one of the architects of the transcendentalist movement, Emerson embraced a philosophy that championed the individual, emphasized independent thought, and prized "the splendid labyrinth of one's own perceptions." More than any writer of his time, he forged a style distinct from his European predecessors and embodied and defined what it meant to be an American. Matthew Arnold called Emerson's essays "the most important work done in prose."

The Virgin Kiss and Other Adventures

Frank Scoblete

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Experience the dazzling, amazing, exciting and wonderful adventures of best-selling author Frank Scoblete. Learn how he beat the casinos for 20 years and was even banned from many of them for his winning expertise. Discover how he astral traveled in time and to other worlds bringing back proof of these mind-bending, sometimes terrifying adventures. Enjoy how he creatively handled some of the most wildly eccentric students imaginable during his teaching career, including Gerry the Rat Boy, Wrong Way McKay, Mel Odious, and the Disgusting Beast. Experience how he learned the laborer's ropes as a teenager in a dangerous Manhattan housing project in New York City. Go into the studio as he partakes in a disastrous and very painful television interview. Suffer with him as he realizes what caused his weight gain and how he bravely fought against it for a full 24 hours. Laugh when he decides to go after sex for the first time as a teenager. Marvel at his first kiss, his Virgin Kiss, which was not like anybody s first kiss ever. This is a hilariously funny but, at times, scary, nail-biting and thoroughly riveting and enjoyable read about someone whose life is indeed stranger and more exciting than fiction.

Maps and Legends

Michael Chabon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent Collection 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

In my opinion, Michael Chabon is one of the elite writers of our time. I buy his books as soon as they come out, and usually I get very sad as I near the end, because he writes so well that I just want the story to go on forever. Maps and Legends is a collection of mostly previously published nonfiction that covers a whole range of ideas and topics. And it serves as a reminder of what good prose can do, no matter the genre.

The initial piece is likely the most famous, the strident defense of genre fiction that first appeared in issue 10 of McSweeney's. While I agree with much of Chabon's assertions about genre fiction, both in this essay and others, I think what seems to be missing is the obvious: good writing will/should trump genre conventions. While the writing of China Mieville may not be quite mainstream, it has a chance to break through because he writes so well. The reason that a lot of the pulp fiction of which Chabon is so fond gets no respect is because it honestly isn't all that good. However, his appeal that divisions in genre be eradicated and all fiction in the bookstore be shelved together makes some sense to me, and it is welcome to read.

Insightful essays on Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!, M.R. James, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have stuck with me, and I will have to read more by these authors in the near future. His review of Cormac McCarthy's The Road does so much more than review the book; it offers a perspective on apocalyptic fiction, and its place within literary fiction as opposed to science fiction.

In `Thoughts on the Death of Will Eisner,' Chabon shies away from listing accomplishments and hagiography, and instead focuses on the more overlooked aspect of Eisner's work: his savvy as a businessman. And his personal history with his first novel and his unfinished second novel make for compelling reads. In each case, his sharp and melodious prose make these essays seem like stories, yet one never gets the sense that Chabon's actual voice is lost to the voice of Chabon the narrator.

The book itself is beautifully produced as well. The cover contains a large gold `X' with the title printed across it, and Chabon's name sits at the top with the `O' a moon. Three dust jackets, each with a different magical scene are layered, creating a provocative scene individually and collectively. And the pages are acid free and quite thick, as most of the books published by McSweeney's are.

Though one may not always agree with the stances Chabon makes in these essays, Maps and Legends is required reading for any fan of genre fiction. Though he just published two novels last year, I can hardly wait for the next. If you haven't sampled his fiction, please do yourself a favor and pick up Wonder Boys, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, or Kavalier & Clay the next time you are at a bookstore. You won't be disappointed.

Editorial Review:

Michael Chabon's sparkling first book of nonfiction is a love song in 16 parts — a series of linked essays in praise of reading and writing, with subjects running from ghost stories to comic books, Sherlock Holmes to Cormac McCarthy. Throughout, Chabon energetically argues for a return to the thrilling, chilling origins of storytelling, rejecting the false walls around "serious" literature in favor of a wide-ranging affection. His own fiction, meanwhile, is explored from the perspective of personal history: post-collegiate desperation sparks his debut, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh; procrastination and doubt reveal the way toward Wonder Boys; a love of comics and a basement golem combine to create the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay; and an enigmatic Yiddish phrasebook unfurls into The Yiddish Policeman's Union.

Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship

N. T. Wright

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Wow. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is my first time reading N.T. Wright's books, though I've read an essay and heard him speak. This is an unbelievable book. The first half of the book walks through the New Testament and describes each author's view of Jesus and what it looks like to follow Him. The second half seems to walk through some of the major issues of discipleship and what it actually looks like to follow Jesus. I loved it and will go back to it again and again.

Bishop Wright is my Hero 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

For years I'd scoffed at Bishop N.T. Wright thinking him a backward-looking, anti-intellectual Christian with nothing to say to the contemporary world. I was wrong. And I'm glad to say this book started it all.

After reading several books on revisionist views of Jesus, I've concluded (very, very reluctantly) that the Jesus presented in "Following Jesus" is the only Jesus really worth following. Here Wright gives us a glimpse of the Jesus of the gospels, a Jesus who is the Savior of the World, a Jesus who makes huge demands on our lives and calls us to follow Him to Calvary. This Jesus tells us disturbing things about ourselves, the world, and how both are in need of repair. The good news, as Wright points out, is that G-d has begun to recreate the world through Jesus of Nazareth. In this short book of sermons, Wright shows the new creation appearing by looking at Jesus' teaching, his healings and, perhaps most of all, his resurrection. The new creation has already begun, yet it will fully arrive in the Age to Come.

This book set my heart aflame for the Christian hope. Although the world suffers and humans fail in love (again and again), there is a G-d who raises the dead, a fact that--when it's internalized--gives life its proper focus.

Thank you, Bishop Wright, for this powerful little book.