Book Description
“Part treatise, part miscellany, unfailingly entertaining.”
–The New York Times
“A small pearl of a book . . . a great tale of the growth of a modern city as seen through the rise and fall of the lowly oyster.”
–Rocky Mountain News
Award-winning author Mark Kurlansky tells the remarkable story of New York by following the trajectory of one of its most fascinating inhabitants–the oyster.
For centuries New York was famous for this particular shellfish, which until the early 1900s played such a dominant a role in the city’s life that the abundant bivalves were Gotham’s most celebrated export, a staple food for all classes, and a natural filtration system for the city’s congested waterways.
Filled with cultural, historical, and culinary insight–along with historic recipes, maps, drawings, and photos–this dynamic narrative sweeps readers from the seventeenth-century founding of New York to the death of its oyster beds and the rise of America’s environmentalist movement, from the oyster cellars of the rough-and-tumble Five Points slums to Manhattan’s Gilded Age dining chambers. With The Big Oyster, Mark Kurlansky serves up history at its most engrossing, entertaining, and delicious.
“Suffused with [Kurlansky’s] pleasure in exploring the city across ground that hasn’t already been covered with other writers’ footprints.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Fascinating stuff . . . [Kurlansky] has a keen eye for odd facts and natural detail.”
–The Wall Street Journal
“Kurlansky packs his breezy book with terrific anecdotes.”
–Entertainment Weekly
“Magnificent . . . a towering accomplishment.”
–Associated Press
Customer Reviews:
Who knew?.......2007-09-27
First off, I am a chef...so my five-star rating might be taken with a grain of sea salt. Also, I am a chef from New York City...who still opens a couple of hundred oysters a week.
I learned bunches from Mark's book. I was able to justify a long held stance about storing oysters in the face of superstition from my twenty-something rock-star staff.
I owned a restaurant in Telluride, Colorado back in the 70's. We dug around in the basement and found menus from the 1890's that featured fresh New York City oysters.....long before refrigeration. The book reveals how this worked, and consequently saved me a few hundred dollars every week. Five stars indeed1
Meanwhile, Mark gives an in-depth sociological, geographic and gastronomical account of how the oyster affected life in New York and America. In many ways the oyster is the canary in the coal mine of our inland waterways. If the oyster is happy with the water....you are probably OK with the water. No oyster.....don't even think about jumping in. Oysters kept New York City harbor water clean for millenia....until overwhelmed by chemical pollution.
Just this morning I picked up Mother Jones, and read an article about the largest oil spill in American history: in Newtown Creek between Queens and Brooklyn. Having read Mark's book....I already knew the history of Newtown Creek...once the source of millions of oysters and the support of an entire social structure.
Oysters had started a comeback there in 1997. Ooops. Back to the drawing board.
Buy the book. Learn something.
An Entertaining and Fun Voyage of Discovery!.......2007-09-23
Who would have thought it possible that anyone could produce a great book on the humble oyster? Intrigued by the cover, I picked up Mark Kurlansky's "The Big Oyster" and embarked on an entertaining and fun voyage of discovery!
I learned that mankind is obsessed with the oyster and has been consuming them for thousands of years. Americans are among the world's biggest producers and consumers of oysters, which played a huge role in the growth of New York city and the young republic.
I found "The Big Oyster" so well written and enthralling that I read it cover to cover, and then went out and bought every book written by Mark Kurlansky. As a voracious consumer of books, it was a wise decision!
I highly recommend this excellent book to anyone searching for a great read!
How can anyone not love this book?.......2007-07-24
I'm not sure what kind of person would buy this book. It's not 100% history, not 100% science, not 100% recipe, it's a little of everything. After reading this book, I'd say this book is for someone who's not afraid to try something different, some who likes oysters and a little history to go with their oysters. So what is this book about?
1) It's a little bit oysters. The science: such as scientific names, reproduction, anatomy, etc. Just a little, not too much to bore the casual reader, but not enough to interest the casual scientist. I tried to find more about oysters online but there's not a lot of info, I suppose I should go read a book on it.
2) It's a lot about the early to mid-1800's history of New York City. As I like history, I really liked this part.
3) It's a little about oyster recipes. Sprinkled throughout this book are recipes, many from old books and from famous cooks and restaurants. That's a gem. It must have take some effort to collect the recipes and whether you like them or not they are interesting, at least for their historical aspect.
4) It's a little about the history of the oyster trade. This is a very good part of the book as I don't think you could find much written on it anywhere else.
5) New York society in the old days. Talked about the who's who and where they would eat. Interesting reading.
6) New York slums and the inhabitants, also interesting reading.
So to summarize, this book is about oysters, the eating of oysters, the oyster trade and New York city. You can't pidgeonhole this book because it's not history, not gastronomy, but a little of everything. It's quite well written and very easy to read. I enjoyed reading it, a break from my regular diet of thrillers. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I'm going to get Cod and Salt, two other books by this author that got mixed reviews. But I think the author deserves my custom after this book.
As usual - easy read.......2007-06-27
Another book by MK. Nice and easy read and somewhat entertaining. Plenty of historical references but true historians could have plenty od reservations about it as well. Overall C to B-.
Quick and Interesting Read.......2007-06-09
I bought this book halfway as a joke for some oyster-loving friends, but it turned out the be a great page turner -- finished it in about 3 sittings. It's a great light read with some excellent information about oysters and a surprisingly fascinating history of NYC.
Book Description
From the best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential comes this true, thrilling tale of pursuit through the kitchens of New York City at the turn of the century.
By the late nineteenth century, it seemed that New York City had put an end to the outbreaks of typhoid fever that had so frequently decimated the city's population. That is until 1904, when the disease broke out in a household in Oyster Bay, Long Island. Authorities suspected the family cook, Mary Mallon, of being a carrier. But before she could be tested, the woman, soon to be known as Typhoid Mary, had disappeared. Over the course of the next three years, Mary worked at several residences, spreading her pestilence as she went. In 1907, she was traced to a home on Park Avenue, and taken into custody. Institutionalized at Riverside Hospital for three years, she was released only when she promised never to work as a cook again. She promptly disappeared.
For the next five years Mary worked in homes and institutions in and around New York, often under assumed names. In February 1915, a devastating outbreak of typhoid at the Sloane Hospital for Women was traced to her. She was finally apprehended and reinstitutionalized at Riverside Hospital, where she would remain for the rest of her life.
Typhoid Mary is the story of her infamous life. Anthony Bourdain reveals the seedier side of the early 1900s, and writes with his renowned panache about life in the kitchen, uncovering the horrifying conditions that allowed the deadly spread of typhoid over a decade. Typhoid Mary is a true feast for history lovers and Bourdain lovers alike.
Customer Reviews:
ANTHONY BOURDAIN DELIVERS.......2007-08-11
Anthony Bourdain provides a good, solid story, written in his fluid, irreverent prose. Too bad he says he'll not revisit this genre (non-fiction, historical), because he makes history fun to read. He puts Typhoid Mary in an historical and culinary context, as only he can do.
Entertaining, But Lightweight.......2006-12-04
An entertaining urban historical of the infamous Typhoid Mary Mallon - the Irish cook with pestilence coursing through her ... um... bum. This one is a bit different because it's written by a chef who looks at Mary's life from the perspective of what it must have been like for a hard-working immigrant cook at the turn of the century, and he throws in a lot of details regarding the lack of cleanliness of the time which makes it a bit more understandable why Mary didn't tend to wash her hands after relieving herself, and thus prevent the spread of Typhoid Fever. Bourdain is decidedly sympathetic of Mary, when it's pretty obvious that Mary had a whole lot to do with bringing her misfortune upon herself... which makes you wonder: if Bourdain were offered some of Mary's trademark peach ice cream, would he have eaten it?
Love Bourdain!.......2006-07-13
I really like Anthony Bourdain's writing style. It's conversational and unpretentious. This is a great book if you don't know the story of Typhoid Mary; however, if you are already familiar with it and are looking for something in depth with lots of details, this might not be perfect.
I'm looking forward to reading more from Bourdain.
The Best History Books are NOT Written by Historians.......2005-03-10
It just goes to show what someone with some desire to learn and a talent for writing can do. Tony Bourdain proves it yet again with his interesting and well-researched look at Typhoid Mary. Who knew she was a cook? I bet most people think she was a prostitute (I did). Bravo to Tony for having the ingenuity and the humility to do some top notch historical research here and produce a useful work of historical scholarship.
Tasty morsel.......2005-01-30
This slender volume is a lot like the sumptuous meals that were popular among the wealthy turn-of-the-last-century New Yorkers: it's rich and overstuffed. "Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical" by Anthony Bourdain is loaded with references to that milieu's passion for all things fancy, especially food, and how one woman, without intent or malice, sent a panic throughout it.
Mr. Boudain, a very successful chef in his own right, is the perfect chronicler of this saga. His sympathy/empathy for Mary (Typhoid Mary) Mallon is evident throughout the text. (His final gesture of burying a gift at her grave was very moving.) He understands Mary's territorial sprayings in the kitchen, and how she felt that no one had the right to prevent her from working in it. And although he feels for her, he is not callous to the havoc and tragedy she created.
There is also a little bit of a detective story here. And I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the first time Mary was tracked down and the last time. The limited range of the book is the only drawback. I felt as though I had read something that was part of a larger work. In gustatory terms, I felt I had eaten a tasty main course with some side dishes, but was denied the appetizer and dessert. Again, Mr. Bourdain's final farewell to Mary at the gravesite was moving, but sort of abruptly ended the story. But I'm nitpicking. "Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical" is a wonderful diversion.
Book Description
On July 28, 1841, the body of Mary Rogers, a twenty-year-old cigar girl, was found floating in the Hudson-and New York's unregulated police force proved incapable of solving the crime. One year later, a struggling writer named Edgar Allan Poe decided to take on the case-and sent his fictional detective, C. Auguste Dupin, to solve the baffling murder of Mary Rogers in "The Mystery of Marie Rogt."
Customer Reviews:
It had potential............2007-09-12
This book could have been more interesting with better editing. The same point is repeated over and over again. How stupid does one need to be to get the point of what the author is trying to convey?
Poe's story is interesting. The fervor of the press at the time is just like the paparazzi today, so it was interesting to see how little things have improved with tabloid journalism. The reports of the bumbling of the coroner and the police also shows how those departments have been picked on since they came to be.
The author either did not have enough interesting material or simply lacked the imagination to fill this book.
Interesting Book, Needs to Decide What Story to Tell.......2007-09-10
There are parts of this book that are very engaging and interesting -- life in lower Manhattan in the 1830s and 40s, for example; the beach and spring scene in Hoboken along the Hudson River, the sad and tragic case of Mary Rogers, and of course Poe's life story.
But this book fails to find a convincing narrative that links all of these parts together. Instead, the author gets bogged down in side stories, and works too hard to link it all together, not very convincingly.
As a result, the book is slow going, and somewhat frustrating. A good editor was needed here.
Slow Moving.......2007-07-17
This book was very slow paced. It seemed to dive into great detail about side characters and devote entire chapters to characters that maybe didn't need to be developed as well as they were, for example an entire chapter was written about the creator of a newspaper just to give detail about the author of an article about a trial, further slowing the pace of the book. The book in no way caught my interest and I actually gave up on the book about half way through.
An engrossing murder mystery combined with a portrait of the life of Edgar Allen Poe........2007-06-21
I would certainly tend to agree with some of the other reviewers who point out quite correctly that "The Beautiful Cigar Girl" appears to be more about the life of Edgar Allan Poe than about the unfortunate murder of a beautiful young woman. Nevertheless, author Daniel Stashower does a workmanlike job of weaving together the two stories that were so representative of life in New York City in the late 1830's and early 1940's. Times were tough indeed as the nation limped through a severe downturn in the economy.
The young lady who came to be known as "The Beautiful Cigar Girl" was Mary Rogers. In 1938 the proprietor of a local cigar emporium named John Anderson hired Mary to work as a salesgirl in his store. Thanks to his new hire and the convenient location Anderson's Tobacco Emporium proved to be an immediate and smashing success. Newspaper moguls, business leaders and government officials all frequented the store. Suddenly, Mary Rogers was somewhat of an "item" and her name would appear from time to time in various newspapers. As things turned out Mary Rogers only worked at Anderson's for a short period of time. However, when her her battered and bludgeoned body was fished out of the Hudson River in 1941 the apparent murder of Mary Rogers became a sensation in the newspapers.
The stories were rife with speculation and inuendo. Over the next year or so the story would take any number of strange twists and turns. And while the murder of Mary Rogers has never been conclusively solved the most likely scenario turns out to be quite surprising indeed!
In the meantime, it seems that Daniel Stashower devotes more than half of the pages of "The Beautiful Cigar Girl" to the life of Edgar Allan Poe. While Poe certainly did become involved in the case of Mary Rogers with his fascinating article "The Mystery of Marie Roget" I certainly had no reason to expect that so much of this book would be devoted to him. Since I knew very little about Edgar Allan Poe to begin with I really did not mind learning about his life here. It turns out that despite his obvious and enormous talent, Poe's penchant for self-destructive behavior would severely limit his ability to earn a living in the literary world. Time and time again, in job after job, Edgar Allan Poe would wear out his welcome. His story is both sad and tragic and one cannot help but wonder what might have been had Poe been able to overcome his personal problems.
In any event, the bottom line is that "The Beautiful Cigar Girl" was not quite what I had expected. Too many pages devoted to Poe really did seem to detract from the real reason I was reading this book--the murder of Mary Rogers. Despite its shortcomings, this is still a book that managed to hold my interest from cover to cover.
Very interesting.......2007-05-16
Being a Poe enthusiast as well as a history and true crime buff, I have found this book fascinating. The author does a good job of telling two stories at the same time - first the story of Poe, his upbringing and his erratic behavior throughout his life and second the story of the beautiful and tragic Mary Rogers. I love the way he intertwines the stories and draw the paralells between the two. The author draws you into the story in the way a good mystery novel would and makes it come to life on the page. I am glad that I bought this book!
Book Description
In this marvelous anecdotal history, Justin Kaplan—Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Mark Twain—vividly brings to life a glittering, bygone age.
Endowed with the largest private fortunes of their day, cousins John Jacob Astor IV and William Waldorf Astor vied for primacy in New York society, producing the grandest hotels ever seen in a marriage of ostentation and efficiency that transformed American social behavior.
Kaplan exposes it all in exquisite detail, taking readers from the 1890s to the Roaring Twenties in a combination of biography, history, architectural appreciation, and pure reading pleasure.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent introduction to "the 400", the Astors, and the rise of the grand hotels.......2006-11-30
This book is an excellent introduction to the history of "the 400" (or "the Four Hundred") and the Astor family for the many people who seek such information. Many people ask me for more information about "the 400" because my novel, "Chasing the 400", deals with the African American community's social interpretation of "the 400" during the 1950's. At that time, "the 400" was a term that was used to characterize the Black Bourgeoisie, the same as the term was used to characterize the New York Gilded Age social elite.
I disagree with Kaplan that people largely seemed to not care about "the 400" after Carolyn Astor's death or disappearance from prominence in New York society. "The 400" as the social elite lived on long after Carolyn Astor's grand entertaining, and many groups of people patterned their social groups after Mrs. Astor's exclusivity. In my novel, I explain "the 400" in New York society and in 1950s Philadelphia's Black Bourgeoisie this way: "The women displayed as colored society were the ladies of 'the 400', an exclusive, informal collection of Philadelphia's black bourgeoise, the talented tenth, the doctors, lawyers and other successful colored businessmen and their wives. This exclusive group patterned themselves after "the Four Hundred", the phrase coined in the late 1800's by New York socialite Mrs. William Astor and her friends to symbolize upper crust society--the truly worthy 400 people who could fit into the ballroom of Mrs. Astor's New York home. Like Mrs. Astor's Four Hundred, Philadelphia's colored 400 attended a seemingly endless round of balls, lunches, fashion shows and cocktail soirees. Mrs. Donald Butcher, given name Harriet, ruled the colored 400 which, in reality, had only about 50 people who were truly worthy. Donald Butcher made a fortune operating the largest colored funeral home in Philadelphia, and Harriet made a life running colored society."
More information about groups that might be considered to be the modern day "Four Hundred" in the African American community, such as The Links, Jack & Jill and Sigma Pi Phi--the Boule, and "Chasing the 400" can be found on my Amazon page. Malcom X, in "The Autobiography of Malcom X", also talks about "the 400" in Boston's African American community.
Kaplan's discussion of how and why the Astor's concieved and built New York's grandest hotels is also fascinating. We take the grand hotel for granted today, but Kaplan explains how such hotels were truly revolutionary and transformed society at that time. Modern day real estate investors might find inspiration in Kaplan's detailed discussions of how the Astors used real estate to build their great wealth, working on one deal after another, not satisfied with more wealth than most of us could even imagine.
Hotel Mania.......2006-11-27
This book, while initially giving the impression of being a recounting of the Astor family, actually turns into a history of hotels in New York City built by wealthy people. As a biography it was well done, but as a history of the hotels it is extremely interesting. There are some asides about the inter-family feuds of the Astors, and it mentions, in passing, the death of John Jacob IV on the Titanic (perhaps more should have been said about this). To those interested in the early history of New York, and its famous hotels, this is required reading!
Slim volume promises much delivers little .......2006-09-05
When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age by Justin Kaplan is a bit of a disappointment. From the title and description, I was looking for a biography of the Astor family along with a taste of history about the times they lived in. While there is some brief biographical information in the book, much of it is focused on the hotels they (and others) built. Pages are allotted to the Palmer House in Chicago (which they didn't build), but far less to John Jacob Astor's death on the Titanic. His scandalous divorce and marriage to a much younger woman are also glossed over. His uncle William Waldorf Astor's life is covered in far greater detail, but even he doesn't get full coverage. Gossipy bits and pieces of the times are dropped here and there. Kaplan goes overboard in quoting Henry James in his eloquence about the beauty of hotels. There are pages of quotes from James, often repeated. The book meanders and repeats itself as well. I suppose not much should be expected from such a slim volume, but I was hoping for more.
Mostly history.......2006-08-09
Book was not what I expected. Does not delve into characters,but more or less who begot who and rivalries, hotel building, and so on. If you're looking for character development or revelation, this is not what you want.
Lacks Focus.......2006-08-03
The Astors are an iconic American family, rising from immigrant roots to great wealth and aristocratic pretensions, undermined by their own social ambition and self-imposed isolation and finally, in later generations, fading from economic and social prominence. (104 year-old Brooke Astor, the widow of Vincent, is the last multi-millionaire Astor, and will leave no Astor heirs.) Yet this book purports to be, not about the Astors, but about the great hotels that they conceived and built, including such landmarks as the old Waldorf-Astoria, The Astor and the St. Regis. As such, the book lacks focus and is poorly integrated; it's not quite a bio of the Astors, since it's character portraits are superficial, but it's not really about the great hotels either, because it limits that story to the role played by the Astors. The result is disjointed and, occasionally, boring. This author knows alot about the Astors and would have done better to write a straightforward biography or family history.
Average customer rating:
- Superb
- dada: zurich, berlin, hanover, cologne, new york, paris
- A great book!
- Remarkable
- DADA:ZURICH,BERLIN,HANOVER,COLOGNE,NEW YORK,PARIS
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Dada: Zurich, Berlin, Hanover, Cologne, New York, Paris
Leah Dickerman ,
Dorothea Dietrich ,
Brigid Doherty ,
Sabine Kriebel ,
Janine Mileaf ,
Michael Taylor ,
Matthew Witkovsky ,
Earl Powell ,
Hans Jean Arp ,
Tristan Tzara ,
Marcel Duchamp ,
Kurt Schwitters ,
Francis Picabia , and
Max Ernst
Manufacturer: D.A.P./The National Gallery of Art, Washington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Dadaism
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Dada Seminars, The (Casva Seminar Papers)
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ASIN: 1933045205
Release Date: 2005-11-15 |
Book Description
Along with Russian constructivism and surrealism, Dada stands as one of the three most significant movements of the historical avant-garde. Born in the heart of Europe in the midst of World War I, Dada displayed a raucous skepticism about accepted values. Its embrace of new materials, of collage and assemblage techniques, of the designation of manufactured objects as art objects as well as its interest in performance, sound poetry, and manifestos fundamentally shaped the terms of modern art practice and created an abiding legacy for postwar art. Yet, while the word Dada has common currency, few know much about Dada art itself. In contrast to other key avant-garde movements, there has never been a major American exhibition that explores Dada specifically in broad view. Dada--the catalogue to the exhibition on view in 2006 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and The Museum of Modern Art in New York presents the hybrid forms of Dada art through an examination of city centers where Dada emerged: Zurich, Berlin, Cologne, Hannover, New York, and Paris. Covered here are works by some 40 artists made in the period from circa 1916, when the Cabaret Voltaire was founded in Zurich, to 1926, by which time most of the Dada groups had dispersed or significantly transformed. The city sections bring together painting, sculpture, photography, collage, photomontage, prints and graphic work. Relying on dynamic design and vivid documentary images, Dada takes us through these six cities via topical essays and extensive plate sections; an illustrated chronology of the movement; witty chronicles of events in each city center; a selected bibliography; and biographies of each artist--accompanied by Dada-era photographs.
Customer Reviews:
Superb.......2007-07-05
I have always had a weakness for Dada, and within this quixotic movement a special liking for Schwitters. So I visited the Dada-exposition in the Paris Centre Pompidou last year, and there bought both the Dickerman catalogue of the American exposition, and the (French language) catalogue of the Centre Pompidou itself, which differ in many ways. The exposition was wonderful by the way, and one of the best I' ve seen in many years. Thinking that a morning would be enough to see what I wanted to see, I changed my mind, decided to take dinner in the Pompidou, and stayed for the rest of the day. The immense amount of material was stunning. And the same thing really goes for both impressive catalogues. The American (Dickerman) version (520 pages) follows Dada by way of the cities where Dada developed, and does so in a more or less chronological fashion. Essays are excellent, photomaterial looks great. It is the sort of catalogue you would expect from an exposition like this. The European catalogue, more than thousand pages, printed on very thin paper, treats subjects, artists, and everything else connected with Dada according to alfabet. It seems to me that the catalogue has just about everything that could be seen at the exposition, with exception of the films of course. Although I felt a bit silly after buying both catalogues (spending some 100 euros), I was in the end very glad that I did. Everybody who buys catalogues now and then, know how disappointing these sometimes are. Well, these aren't. They are both superb, knowledgeable. And the people who made them have done a terrific job. In the end you wind up thinking: Hey, these guys (and girls) must have loved Dada as much as I do.
dada: zurich, berlin, hanover, cologne, new york, paris.......2007-03-08
dada: zurich, berlin, hanover, cologne, new yorkk, paris
A great book!.......2007-02-09
This book is wonderfully informative, plus it has so many full-color reproductions--the type of terrific catalog that inspires one to stroke its pages with a sense of seduction (works in my mind!).
Remarkable.......2006-10-01
Coupled with Hans Richter's: "Dada, Art and Antiart" and movement's philosophy and works are clearly understood. Graphics are truly great and commentary enlighten. It might be noted this book is German published as the Max Ernst book "Life and Work". Both with numerous colored plates of the highest quality. The Dada book though excels in text.
DADA:ZURICH,BERLIN,HANOVER,COLOGNE,NEW YORK,PARIS.......2006-07-29
IF YOU LIKE ART THIS IS THE PERFECT MEAL.
BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER AND SNACKS
I WISH I HAD ONE OF THESE BOOKS IN EVERY ONE OF MY ROOMS
OR ANYWHERE I VISIT WHERE THERE MIGHT BE FREE TIME TO LEAF THRU IT!
Average customer rating:
- should have been better
- Don't waste your money!
- DRAWING from the MODERN
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Drawing From The Modern
Andre Breton ,
Paul Gauguin ,
Georges Bataille ,
Jodi Hauptman ,
Hans Bellmer ,
Constantin Brancusi ,
Paul Cezanne ,
Marc Chagall ,
Giorgio De Chirico ,
Robert Delaunay ,
Andre Derain ,
Arthur Dove ,
Alexandra Alexandrovna Exter ,
Arshile Gorky ,
Juan Gris ,
Gustav Klimt ,
Wilfredo Lam ,
Filippo Marinetti , and
Joan Miro
Manufacturer: The Museum of Modern Art, New York
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Binding: Hardcover
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Experimental Drawing
ASIN: 0870706632
Release Date: 2004-11-02 |
Book Description
Many of the key achievements in art of the last 125 years have been worked out on paper. From pictorial investigations that expanded the possibilities of vision to the invention of entirely new kinds of media, drawing has been the perfect laboratory for avant-garde experimentation. Drawing from the Modern traces such groundbreaking innovation through the unparalleled holdings of the drawings collection of The Museum of Modern Art. Drawing has historically been understood as a mark or line on paper--the record of a bodily gesture, an inscription of the action of the hand, an expression of the mind. Since the 1880s, however, artists have sought to interrupt these seemingly unbreakable links between mark, hand, and imagination. Defying long-held definitions of drawing and rejecting traditional materials, modern artists invented a host of practices, altering not only the field of drawing but artmaking in general. Examining masterworks from the Museum's collection of nearly 7,000 works on paper in three chronological volumes beginning in the 1880s and continuing through today, Drawing from the Modern reconsider artists' repudiation of traditional drafting methods, assault on the use of the single sheet of paper, and introduction of new materials. Going to the heart of avant-garde innovation, all three volumes showcase new formal strategies, including collage, abstraction, chance, and the integration of text and image, as well as new subject matter, including the urban experience, the body, and identity. Volume I, presented here, spans the period from 1880 to 1940, and includes work by such artists as Jean Arp, Hans Bellmer, Paul Cazanne, Arshile Gorky, Georgia O'Keeffe, Odilon Redon, and Kurt Schwitters. Volume II, available in Spring 2005, will cover 1940 to 1975, and Volume III, available in Fall 2005, will bring us from 1975 to the present day.
Customer Reviews:
should have been better.......2007-09-13
I purchased book 1 & 2 from Amazon. The illustrations are far too small to be a professionally represented art book from MOMA I've decided to save my money rather than pay out for the 3rd edition. It sounds a good buy from its description but I don't consider this trilogy to be very satisfactory.
Don't waste your money!.......2007-08-09
This is not a good artbook. The images are way too small to be satisfying. This book could have been great, but falls way short of its potential. Don't buy it, you will be disappointed.
DRAWING from the MODERN.......2006-12-27
DRAWING from the MODERN is the first of a three part series published by MOMA as catalogue to accompany the chronologically arranged exhibitions of their drawing collection; in part, celebration of the seventy fifth anniversary of the founding of the Museum.
This first book looks at the late nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. Care and preservation of these drawings dictate that they are displayed infrequently, paper being a delicate medium, subject to fading, discoloration and brittleness. The publication of this series then allows us to have at hand a history of drawings seldom seen, and a visual education demonstrating how problems of that era both evolved and worked themselves out.
The introduction by Jodi Hauptman is broad and well worth reading. Aside from her entertaining "end of art" stories, she addresses artists and process leading to the dissolution of prevalent notions: relationship of "mark" to "ground", took new form; spatial notions of an orderly page, questioned; the element of chance, explored as process; the ego relationship of an artist to work, dissolving. New imagery happened: collage, abstraction, grids, enhanced emotions, metaphors of feeling, the sublime re-imaged. New subjects explored brutalities of war, notions of "city", identity, the spiritual, and the abstract.
As perhaps with all process of art, the uncertainty of change brought forth much that is new. The 139 plates of drawings both demonstrate and give testimony by leading artists of the time to new era in process. Drawing as subject matter is fascinating. To be expected, the book is well printed. Of course, what is book one without book two and three?
Nancy Gutrich
Book Description
The lives of the talented Aubrey children have long been clouded by their father?s genius for instability, but his new job in the London suburbs promises, for a time at least, reprieve from scandal and the threat of ruin. Mrs. Aubrey, a former concert pianist, struggles to keep the family afloat, but then she is something of a high-strung eccentric herself, as is all too clear to her daughter Rose, through whose loving but sometimes cruel eyes events are seen. Still, living on the edge holds the promise of the unexpected, and the Aubreys, who encounter furious poltergeists, turn up hidden masterpieces, and come to the aid of a murderess, will find that they have adventure to spare.
In The Fountain Overflows, a 1957 best seller, Rebecca West transmuted her own volatile childhood into enduring art. This is an unvarnished but affectionate picture of an extraordinary family, in which a remarkable stylist and powerful intelligence surveys the elusive boundaries of childhood and adulthood, freedom and dependency, the ordinary and the occult.
Customer Reviews:
Intriguing characters, sparkling writing.......2007-08-11
This was my first encounter with Dame Rebecca West's writing, but it won't be my last. Nearly every paragraph stood alone, as a description to savor or an emotion remarkably described. The characters linger long after the book is closed. I believe that someone has suggested that they are somewhat Dickensian, with which I would agree. The plot conveys to the reader a deep understanding of the frustrations encountered by women whose lives are held in thrall by men who are indifferent to their wellbeing.
The only thing that keeps this book from being 5-stars in my mind are occasional spots where you want it to move more quickly. Its subtlety and richness make it a book well worth revisiting.
A general comment about the Classics series of the New York Review of Books. I am particularly pleased to have discovered this series for two reasons. First, because of the beauty of the books themselves; the cover art is of a very high quality and the paper, printing and binding is as well. The books themselves are pleasurable to experience. Second, the series is introducing me to literature that I would otherwise have never read. I just finished "A High Wind in Jamaica," have begun "Indian Summer" by William Dean Howells (and my middle-school introduction to "The Rise of Silas Lapham" would have predicted that I would never have picked up a book by Howells again, which would have been my loss - I might even tackle Silas Lapham again), and have ordered a few more. I recommend that readers explore some of these treasures.
Once Of My Favorite Books.......2006-11-07
to be savored - a real treasure.
This book is hard to classify because it is both densely written, and yet, it is like cotten candy. If you like to be transported to another place and time, and enjoy writers who know how to use the English language, this is a book for you!
My favorite novel of all time--and I've read thousands..........2005-01-10
The header says it all. If pressed, I will have to admit that this is my absolute favorite novel of all time. There is something so haunting and so human and so memorable about this book, I can't stay away from it--I must have read it 20 times, and I never grow tired of it.
Quite Simply One of the Best Books in English Literature.......2003-08-16
I had heard of author Rebecca West, mainly as the young woman who had a long term affair with a much older H.G. Wells and produced a child out of wedlock, back when things like this were considered shocking. I stumbled across a copy of this book and decided it might make an interesting read.
I never imagined that I had found a true classic, a book that uses the English language to a degree unsurpassed by any other author I have ever read. The story of is simple, that of a down on their luck family, living in London during the early 1900's. Their trials and tribulations are faithfully described, as are the multitude of characters they befriend. Actually to describe the plot, one might assume that not much really happens and to be honest, the plot is not the main attribute of this novel. But the language! I have often thought that I would some day like to write a novel but after reading this book, I would not even attempt it! This is how language should be used...clear and concise but also able to convey atmosphere and emotions. Page after page of luscious words, all combining together to create an unforgettable reading experience. If, like me, you wanted to read more, please note that the sequel, This Real Night is almost as good. A third book, Cousin Rosamund is much weaker since it was not completed at the time of the author's death.
Please do yourself a favor and read this book. I think this ranks with Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights as books which define the best that the English language can offer.
Beautiful, wise, witty, and, yes, you guessed it, timeless.......2003-03-27
About two pages into this I realized I'd come across a sublimely intelligent and aware narrative voice -- that of a 12-yr-old girl in turn-of-the-century London -- and from that point on I read the rest of the novel in a page-turning fever of delight and pleasure. A fictionalized account of Rebecca West's real family, the story follows the lives of the narrator, Rose Aubrey and her twin sister Mary (both of whom are prodigies on the piano), their older sister Cordelia, who apparently stinks at the piano, but doesn't realize it (much to the chagrine of the rest of the family), their thoroughly unflappable and adored younger brother, Richard, a flautist, and their ragged, heroic mother who tries to keep the family above water while the father, a brilliant essayist and pamphleteer who is completely lacking in all matters of practicality, loses one job after another. It's a brilliant cast brought unforgettably to life by West's flawless prose and the intelligence, generosity, imagination and wit poured into it. When you close the book, you feel as if you had just remembered moments from a real family you'd known while growing up, but who you lost touch with because your family moved away. Truly wonderful. Please, if you love beautiful things, read this.
Average customer rating:
- Great Motivational book for children
- Almanzo's Childhood: Preparing for His Life and His Wife (His Bride)!
- Farmer Boy
- ...makes it impossible for readers to follow the saying 'early to bed, early to rise'...keeps you reading long into the night
- Read it aloud yourself, please.
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Farmer Boy (Little House)
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
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Little House on the Prairie (Little House)
ASIN: 0064400034 |
Book Description
The story of a boy named
Almanzo Wilder . . .
While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Almanzo and his brother and sisters work at their chores from dawn to supper most days-no matter what the weather. There is still time for fun, though, especially with the horses, which Almanzo loves more than anything.
Farmer Boy is the third book in the Laura Years series.
From shearing sheep and milking cows to training young calves, Almanzo Wilder worked very hard on his family's farm in New York. But when his chores were all done, Almanzo could go to his favorite place in the whole world -- the Horse-Barn. Although his father wouldn't let him handle the frisky colts, Almanzo could still look at them and dream of one day having a horse all his own!
Customer Reviews:
Great Motivational book for children.......2007-05-17
If your kids complain that you give them too many chores to do and they never get any time to have fun this book should be a must read! Not only does it contain numerous lessons about farming techniques and problems but it also shows how much a little boy of 10 years is capable of doing and how willing and proud he is of doing it. I was very impressed with the book and found myself reading it on my own, without my child. Laura Ingalls Wilder has quite a talent in putting pictures down in words. Almanzo Wilder's one year in this book was facinating and enlightening. I have a much larger appreciation for both what times were like and how much easier they are now.
Almanzo's Childhood: Preparing for His Life and His Wife (His Bride)!.......2007-04-27
Of all the Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House" books, FARMER BOY is, hands down, my very favorite.
The book covers a portion of the boyhood of Almanzo Wilder, who was to grow up to become Laura's husband. Almanzo grew up on a thriving, successful farm in New York state. Almanzo's father was especially known and respected for raising top-quality horses. Almanzo's mother had her own home business ventures and was known for making top-quality butter, fetching top dollar, to be served in some of the finest restaurants in New York City.
I could probably write a book about this book and why I love it so much. Through the examples of the Wilder family, its strengths and limitations, the author puts forth some enduring lessons about hard work, mutual respect, the value of time and money, hope... and more. FARMER BOY stands out among the other "Little House" books because: a) it is about Almanzo, long before he ever met Laura, ten years his junior (so Laura was not even born yet at the time this book starts its story); and b) the Wilder family, like the Ingalls family, faced hardships, but not to the relentless and ridiculous level that the Ingalls family seemed to do so, leaving more room to delineate normal, day-to-day life, which itself was incredibly rich and interesting.
During the time that Laura, many miles away, was an infant and young child, Almanzo was growing up in New York, developing his love of horses and skill in working with them. During the time he was a young man venturing out west, Laura herself was developing her love of horses and skill in riding them. That they were both "horse lovers" provided a lovely and important common ground later when they met, courted and married.
Almanzo James Wilder was born February 13, 1857 and died on October 23, 1949, at the age of 92. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born on February 7, 1867 and died on February 10, 1957, at age 90. They were married on August 25, 1885. These details mean that Almanzo was very much alive in 1933 when FARMER BOY was published, and presumably, very much available as a resource for his wife Laura, the author. To me, that is precious and relevant, for it attests to longevity (both of their marriage and their lives) and to the presumption of authenticity regarding this wonderful book. Highly recommended!
Farmer Boy.......2007-04-03
Farmer Boy
Do you like farms? Well, this boy certainly does! This boy named Almanzo is a boy who just loves the farm. Farmer Boy tells you how farming was done in the 1870's. It describes how they used to have to spend two weeks cutting hay, and how they had to wake up at three o'clock in the morning on Independence Day just to save the corn. It tells what it was like to live in the house with his two parents, and his annoying big brother and sisters! This is the life of a true farmer! I thought that this book was great, and I really encourage you to read it.
Farmer Boy is recommended for kids eight to twelve. Personally, I think that this book is great for people8 and older. I know s that still like it, and I know that I do! Even though a lot of people over twelve do not give it a chance, I hope that you will.
The words in this book are very easy to understand, and there is no inappropriate content either. For example, in the book it says, "The ice-house was built of boards with wide between. It was set high off the ground on wooden blocks, and looked like a big cage."(Sic) You can see just from this quote that it is easy to read, and Laura Ingalls Wilder did a great job of describing things.
Farmer Boy is also a good chapter book for visual learners. In every chapter there is at least one picture. This helps you visualize what is happening in the book, and it helps you understand what is going on.
I thought that Farmer Boy was a great book. I really learned a lot about life and farming in the 1870's. This book is perfect for people who love history and biographies. The best part of the book is at the end when Almanzo gets a big present; it is something that he has always wanted. The only way you will find out what it is is read the book!
...makes it impossible for readers to follow the saying 'early to bed, early to rise'...keeps you reading long into the night.......2007-01-24
Nine-year-old Almanzo "Manzo" Wilder has a delightful family, complete with three older siblings (Royal, Eliza Jane, and Alice), along with two loving parents, and never wants for anything - especially not food, as the table is always laden with lavish spreads of food, from mashed potatoes to chicken, and pumpkin pie to apples and onions. But now, as Manzo begins preparing for school, he realizes that there's something he wants more than anything, and that's a colt of his very own. Pa, however, doesn't believe that Almanzo is old enough to break a colt. He feels that Almanzo's duties lie more within weeding the fields, and training a team of young oxen to pull carts, and assist with the daily chores. So Almanzo decides to prove to his family that he has the strength, and the maturity, to have his own colt. From sun up, until sun down Almanzo works as much as he possibly can, helping his father with everything from seeding to weeding, and pulling to sheering. It is only, however, when the New York State resident realizes that skipping school all the time to work among a farm, and neglecting his studies to play with his friends and spend the day sledding, that Almanzo learns that proving your responsibility doesn't only take a lot of manual labor, but labor for your mind, as well.
As an avid viewer of the "Little House On the Prairie" TV show, I wasn't exposed to the character of Almanzo Wilder until he was well out of childhood, and considered a man. So I was quite excited to have the opportunity to learn more about his quirks as a pre-pubescent boy growing up in northern New York State. Almanzo, even at the age of nine, was a responsible boy who grew up to be a responsible man. He worked hard, but never forgot to enjoy his youth by getting into all sorts of mischief - from overeating ice cream, to staining the family's parlor wall with blacking. His interactions with his older brother and sisters are comical, as he is treated like a baby more often than not, and appears to resent it more than anything. As strange as it sounds, I was a big fan of Almanzo's mother throughout the tale. Talk of her days and nights slaving over a stove, preparing the most mouth-watering meals known to man really gave me an accurate depiction of the amount of work that took place during the frontier years, while at the same time leaving me with a serious craving for a thick slice of pumpkin pie. As with the previous book in the series, LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS, FARMER BOY includes a biography about the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, along with a brief history on two very important subjects (the county fair, and school days), the lyrics to a song (Yankee-Doodle), and a recipe (Pulled Molasses Candy). FARMER BOY makes it impossible for readers to follow the saying "early to bed, early to rise," for it will keep you reading long into the night.
Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer
Read it aloud yourself, please........2006-11-29
I love all of the Little House books, and have since I was a little girl. I can spew out more information about the books than most readers, and have visited all the Little House sites. I love that I am getting to do this all over again with my daughter, and that she loves the books too.
That said, I do not like the CD versions of the books. There is an insincerity that comes across in the readings of the books, almost a mocking. Cherry Jones' accent is actually very distracting from the story. Her sense of the writing in the story, and how it would be delivered is very off. I'm not sure why anyone would have approved of the readings much less printed them and sold them at such a high price.
I know that Ms Jones is an accomplished actresses. That's why it's so sad that these wonderful stories are mangled by someone who should be able to give them the beauty they deserve.
Average customer rating:
- The Uncommon Power of Common Things
- Another flight of imagination from inimitable Goldsworthy
- Thoughts from a bent back
- Nice stone work
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Wall
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
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Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature
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Passage
ASIN: 0810945592 |
Book Description
British artist Andy Goldsworthy, known for creating art outdoors and from natural materials, has now built a 2,278-foot stone wall at Storm King Art Center, a sculpture park on the Hudson River in Mountainville, New York. This sensitive and detailed response to the land-former farmland in an area once rich in stone walls-is one of his most impressive and important permanent artworks. This new work starts by closely following the foundations of an old, dilapidated wall and then makes a series of increasingly voluptuous arabesques before plunging down into a lake. It rises again on the other side and heads straight up a grassy slope to stop dead at a major highway. The book's stunning color photographs show the wall from every vantage point and in all four seasons, as well as documenting ephemeral work made around it. Kenneth Baker's essay considers the Storm King wall in the context of Goldsworthy's other work. The book accompanies an exhibition at Storm King that opens in May 2000.
More than 60 photographs in full color, 9 1/2 x 10 1/2"
ANDY GOLDSWORTHY was born in 1956 in Cheshire, England. His work is regularly exhibited in Britain, France, the United States, Japan, and elsewhere. Although commissions take him all over the world, the landscape around his home in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, remains at the heart of his work. His previous books include Abrams' Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature, Hand to Earth, Stone, Wood, and Arch. JERRY L. THOMPSON is a highly regarded photographer who has contributed to a number of books, including Abrams' Mark di Suvero. KENNETH BAKER is art critic of the San Francisco Chronicle.
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York May-November 2000
Customer Reviews:
The Uncommon Power of Common Things.......2006-04-28
Wall is a visual journey into the uncommon power and beauty of common things. Stones, leaves, a blade of grass. Rushes, thorns, the splash of water on a quiet rock. In the thoughtful hands of artist Andy Goldsworthy, these ordinary landscape artifacts are pressed, moved, shaped and juxtaposed, then left to melt back into earth over time. When viewing Goldsworthy's art, one thinks of the rapt attention of a child, who sees possibility in every fallen branch. Yet, the overall impression is philosophical in nature. Even the person who claims little understanding of art can find a way to enter in, especially with the help of Baker's essay. A beautiful read, a beautiful look.
Another flight of imagination from inimitable Goldsworthy.......2002-09-08
Imagine that you're a giant playing with pebbles in your backyard. There's a big puddle nearby, and a lot of weeds. You idly pick up pebble after pebble, placing them gently one on top of the other, winding what ends up being a wall through the weeds until it gets to the edge of the puddle. That's the deliciously disconcerting feeling you'll get as you page through Andy Goldsworthy's "Wall."
A document of the design and construction of Goldsworthy's wall at Mountainville, New York, the book details the finding of the original, now-falling-down stone wall and the decision to recreate and embellish upon this. Andy Goldsworthy was called in to design the new wall. While he begins by following what is left of the old wall, his work is looser, more elegant, almost scroll-like as it winds down the hill and plunges directly into the water of the lake. There is a calligraphic quality to this wall that's visually arresting and, quite simply, beautiful.
Along with the wall, Goldsworthy can't resist playing with nature in other ways and these photographs are thoughtfully included as well. We see the line of chrome yellow leaves he's stitched together and placed on the wall, the holes he's filled with crimson leaves and water, and the tree whose bark he's lined with, well, other trees! It's astounding to see how Goldsworthy's brain works and what handsome design statements result from his creativity.
Thoughts from a bent back.......2000-12-30
As one of the wallers involved in the building of Andy's wall at Storm King, I can honestly say that this book gives a really good insight into the ideas behind his work and some of the technicalities involved in its construction. The photography is wonderful and the text informative. This book is well worth a look, and so is the wall itself.
Nice stone work.......2000-06-14
The photography in this book is stunning, as is most of Andy's work. The real heroes of the Wall at Stormking are the Dykers, mainly Max Nowell legendary stone worker from South west Scotland.
Book Description
Peiss has made a major contribution to feminist scholarship . . . in helping to restore working-class women to history.-International Journal of the History of Sport
Customer Reviews:
How the other half played.......2004-03-15
In her book, GILDED CITY, M.H. Dunlop chronicled the execesses and outrages of upper class New Yorkers (especially the women of the uppermost uppers) at the turn of the 20th century. While hiding behind the facade that the lavish parties and balls they threw and the exorbitant clothes they had tailored for themselves were giving jobs to the lower classes, their effect was to shamelessly display their wealth and, ultimately, enrage a lower class that was finding the economy and job market less and less bearable. Peiss' style is scholarly yet without the distancing effect that that form of writing usually exhibits in less skilled hands. Her knowledge and passion for the subject are easily identifiable in this wonderful book.
Kathy Peiss' CHEAP AMUSEMENTS, for me, is the flipside of the situation. The working women of New York, especially immigrant women, needed some way to spend what little leisure time they had with the little discretionary spending they had. Rather than simply identifying the spots like some old guidebook, Peiss explores each type of simple pleasure ground available to the girls, and how and why they became so popular. On a second level, the book examines the social and sometimes political consequences of this class of working women--bachelorettes--and their spending habits.
Women's Appropriation of Leisure.......2001-12-09
Peiss begins her argument by explaining the relationship of industrial capitalism to wage labor in creating class-conscious leisure arenas, literally recalling Roy Rosenzweig's study. Peiss's distinction lies in "this conception of leisure did not develop historically in the same way for both sexes." (Peiss, 4). Sexual division ultimately shaped and confined women's leisure to their homes. Thus, the typical wage-earning females in pursuit of leisure were young and single. Their youth and marriage status turned their attentions from the leisurely pursuits of Rosenzweig's working men but to dance halls, amusement parks, and movie theatres.
The emerging youth-oriented forms of recreation could not be ignored by the commercial industry, which viewed female participation as lucrative. In addition, these commercialized forms of amusement fostered a heterosocial culture that eventually brought new meanings and restriction to same-sex gender friendships. Rather than stand by and chronicle these changes in leisure for working-class women, Peiss makes the bold argument that these women were actual agents in shaping the nature of their leisure, and Peiss proves again and again to be correct. Even more impressive is her claim that the majority of these women were immigrants or second-generation immigrants (Peiss, 56-88). In examining the actual amusements of working-class women--dance halls, excursions, amusement parks, and the movies, Peiss illustrates vividly how women had a place in the architecture of their own leisure.
It is Peiss's conclusion that women's suffrage and the growth of women in the public sphere "infectiously appealed to other middle-class women who were less politicized. Dancing sensual dances, attending cabarets and nightclubs, living as "bachelor girls" in apartment houses, these women expressed a new-found sense of freedom and possibility." (Peiss, 185). Interestingly, the phenomena of entertainment for working-class women eventually made its way to the middle-class, though the "cheap" amusements deliberately shed their vulgarity for the more formal tastes of the middle-class. Although the adventures of the single working-class woman often ceased with marriage, their new leisure pursuits would only grow with consumerism.
The Inner Worlds of the Immigrants You wanted to know........2000-04-28
Cathy Peiss typed written work is a master piece. The inner worlds of the women immigrants are discussed in detail. The book focuses alot on the Jewish, Italian, Irish and Germanic Cycles of people who lived in New York. It explains how immigrant families spent their money on entertainment. You will see real live pictures of the past of commoner citizens. I recommend this book to all [Men AND WOMEN] who wants to know more about the commoner who lived in New York during that time.
An eye opener........1999-12-04
Peiss's work reveals in detail the social implications of young, middle class women's free time in turn-of-the century New York. Based on diaries and reports from the time, Peiss delivers with impact a convincing and highly interesting discussion on how just a few extra hours, a few days out of the week eroded American Victorianism. She writes with authority while keeping her writing very readable.
Excellent!.......1998-12-11
Better and more interesting than you would think. Peiss delves into the leisure time of young, working women in the industrial age. Definately worth your time.
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