Used price: $191.73
List price: $16.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $2.68
Collectible price: $10.59
Buy one from zShops for: $6.99
Van Doren's preface, itself a famous piece of work, accounts for both the best and worst of Whitman's creations (Van Doren seemed to share Randall Jarrell's view that we can only appreciate the best of Whitman's poetry by acknowledging the depths of his worst work), and seeks to locate the personal Whitman within his verses. This essay alone is arguably worth the price of purchase.
What really sets this anthology apart from others like it, though, is the manner in which Van Doren takes his argument - that Whitman's work was always intimate, even though its themes were variously epical or universal - and applies it to his selection of poems. In inevitable inclusions such as 'Song of Myself', 'Mannahatta' and 'Crossing Brooklyn Ferry', we see Whitman the oracular poet, bringing into his egalitarian imagination the disparate bustle and brio of nineteenth-century New York and ordering them in verse. But when we read alongisde these poems 'Ashes of Soldiers', 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd', 'Native Moments' and 'Once I Pass'd through a Populous City', we begin to recognise the truth in Van Doren's thesis. Whitman's fear of death, his concern for the memories of the individual dead (as we see in 'As Toilsome I Wander'd Virginia's Woods'), and his nascently homerotic fascination with his own body (he writes in 'As Adam Early in the Morning', 'Touch me, touch the palm of your hand to my body as I pass,/ Be not afraid of my body'), complement those aspects of his poetry for which he is perhaps most famous: his mythical imagination, exclamatory verse, and descriptive catalogues of local people and places, which remind me of Homeric battle lists, except that they are predicated upon peace, not war.
Combined with his eloquent prose accounts of his activities as a nurse during the Civil War, his letters, and his thoughtful, incisive tributes to those he recognised as great poets (his critical work occasionally resembles the scrupulous excellence of Samuel Johnson), Whitman's poetry discloses subtle resonances that readers might otherwise be inclined to overlook, or forget. Long-time admirers of Whitman will be overjoyed by this classic edition of his work. Those who haven't yet experienced the joys of his language could do worse than look here for a comprehensive overview of his oeuvre.
First and foremost, Whitman follows Emerson's thread of thougth in his nature-loving poetry, but Whitman allows himself fewer limits: He not only writes in free verse, he also writes explicitly about his sexuality.
His power, though, lies in his ability to take everyday things and use them in what we might call catalogue rhetoric: In a way he is just making drafts without logics. This is his way of putting everyday America into a poem. And it works. We may wonder what his point is, but Whitman is about sensation, not logics, and the feeling you experience when you read 'Song of Myself', his masterpiece, is truly unique. It is the same feeling you have when you see a beautful forest or sunset. This is poetry at its best.
Used price: $25.00
Used price: $20.00
Buy one from zShops for: $25.00
Used price: $9.10
Collectible price: $10.59
Buy one from zShops for: $9.50
1. The facts about Riley are not as interesting as the myths about his life.
2. He was not the author of great literature.
It is, of course, the duty of the serious biographer to present the truest picture possible of the life of the biography's subject. To this end, Elizabeth Van Allen has done a prodigious amount of research in documents relating to the life of Riley. The result is a scholarly but readable and interesting book. She rightly puts to rest the myths about the poet, intriguing though they may be. Furthermore, as a historian, Van Allen discusses the significance of Riley's poetry but does not attempt to defend it as outstanding literature.
Certainly, the biography of Riley will be most popular in Indiana where he is still revered by many, but it also will be of interest to anyone who is interested in American cultural history. In presenting the context for Riley's early years, the author paints a clear picture of life in the Midwest in the second half of the 19th century. As Riley rises to national fame, the reader learns of the role of newspapers as a purveyor of literature in the late 19th century, the national importance of regional literature in that century, and the important role of the national lecture circuit as mass entertainment of the period.
As an immensely popular entertainer on platforms throughout the nation and later through the marketing efforts of his publisher and of Riley himself, before movies, radio, television, or rock and roll, Riley was the 19th century precursor of the 20th century pop culture celebrity. This fact alone makes him a figure worth reading about and the author's authoritative and entertaining book worth buying.
Another evaluation of the book that is recommended is the review by Rich Gotshall in the Indianapolis Star issue of Sunday, November 7, 1999.
Used price: $0.01
Used price: $1.47
Collectible price: $2.11
Buy one from zShops for: $4.00
Used price: $191.15
Buy one from zShops for: $72.99
Used price: $9.95
Collectible price: $10.54
This book had the text adapted from Little House on the Prairie.
The family were Charles Ingalls the dad, her mom, Laura, Lauras sister Mary, Her baby sister Carrie & their good old bulldog named Jack.
So one long winter evening Pa tells Ma that he would take the family to live in the west. In the west there were not as many people, no trees, and the grass always grew thick and high.
So Pa sells the little house in the big woods and he sells the cow and calf too.
So the family has a long journey ahead of them.
So at the end of the book they find their way to another little house, a little house on the Western prairie.
This is a great book and I love it.
I hope everybody enjoys it.
This makes me think of being a cowboy on the west and have a western prairie in Calgary, Alberta.
My daughter is two and I thought I would have to wait many years to share the Little House series with her. I'm glad to have this book to help us bide our time! She loves it, and this is one book I will happily read over and over to her.
Used price: $4.00
Buy one from zShops for: $5.04
Potentially this book would be a good one ( concepts are explained ok ) but the tutorials/examples are full of errors and many of the files it references in the tutorials don't exist ..... at least that I have been able to find. I don't even know if the download files are still available ..... not that they are worth the time it takes to download them ( downloads only go through chapter 7 anyway ).
Additionally, I have tried to contact the publisher, author, and new publisher ( Apress apparently has purchased FriendsofED ) for help and received precisely nothing in return ..... not even a "we will look into it and get back with you" message.
I was hoping the FriendsofED titles might be a good source of textbooks for the classes I teach but will probably never use one of their titles again because of this experience with them. It's to the point that I have considered reimbursing everyone of my students who have bought this book because it's so poor.
Very frustrated and disappointed to say the least.