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Nude with Other Wildlife; Summer Reading; Throwing Stuff; The Cabin at Spooky Lake; & Cry Wolf.
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Yes, females who exert their power through sex are discussed. Pauline Bonaparte and the courtesan known as Ninon are two examples. The imfamous ancestress of the former Ambassador Pamela Churchill Harriman, the Honorable Jane Digby and her adventures is a particularly interesting chapter, making the reader race for the biography section of the local bookstore or library to learn more about a women who enchanted men up until her death.
But sex is not the only mania covered. The latter chapters cover little remember figures such as Anne Royall (placed on trial for being a scold), Victoria Woodhull (the imfamous financial "wizard" who was accused of prostitution and ran for President before women had the vote) and the woman who spent her life trying to prove William Shakespeare was only a cover for writers such as Francis Bacon and William Spenser.
Once you'll finished "The Nympho and Other Maniacs", you'll be longing to find out even more about these intriguing women.
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But it is not merely his ground-breaking efforts that garnered him literary recognition, because Irving's stories are at the same time characterized by charming and colourful prose befitting a skilled writer. The stories in this collection (the "Puffin Classics" series) are an excellent sampling of his craft. It's not always easy reading - in fact many of these stories would be too dense even for older children. His vocabulary is extensive, and sentences structure verbose and lengthy - a style rather unlike that employed by contemporary writers. But despite this, Irving demonstrates a wonderful command of the English language, and has the ability to create a vivid picture of his setting, characters and events. Particularly delightful is the attention he devotes to describing his characters. And yet his stories are far from mere character portraits - they are exciting and enchanting tales that make the reader eager to find out the outcome.
"Rip Van Winkle" has gained the status of a classic, and is familiar to most children, but likely few have read Irving's original. It breathes an authenticity and air not found in the contemporary abridged versions of the story. Irving presents his tale as the alleged discovered manuscript (complete with postscript) of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker. The delightful story of Rip Van Winkle - who fell asleep in the Catskill mountains after drinking a mysterious brew acquired from some strange little men, and then awoke 20 years later - will continue to please readers old and new. In the course of the story, Irving makes a profound social comment about the changes happening in his America. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is renowned for its chilling tale of the Headless Horseman, and is a Halloween favorite. Actually, however, it is much more than that. It is not so much a spooky tale of a legendary village ghost as it is a colourful tale about two rival suitors. Ichabod Crane is a simple school teacher who is in love with Katrina Van Tassel, and equally in love with the estates of her father, a wealthy Dutch farmer. His counter-part is the powerful local hero Bram Bones, whose affections for Katrina mirror those of Ichabod Crane, and who is determined to put an end to the affections of underdog Crane by a mysterious and elaborate trickery. As is evident also in his other stories, it is particularly fascinating how Irving exploits the supernatural superstitions of the popular mind to create a sense of mystery and fear, but himself gives a naturalist explanation that rises above such popular notions by explaining the supernatural with natural events.
Though lesser known, the other three stories in the "Puffin Classics" collection are equally enjoyable. "The Spectre Bridegroom" is one of the most fascinating tales in the collection. A young man is mistaken for a bridegroom and received into the castle of a wealthy baron as the husband of the baron's daughter. But before the marriage can be consummated, the bridegroom dashes off, and the baron's family hears shortly afterwards that he's been killed. But then who appears again except the bridegroom - or is it his ghost? - to steal his bride and vanish once more! In the end, it is a satisfying tale more of brilliant scheming than of ghosts - although the fearful superstitions of the general public about the supernatural play an important role in the effective execution of these schemes. "The Pride of the Village" is the tragic tale of a young lady whose heart pines in love for an army officer who has deserted her, only to die at his feet when he returns. "Mountjoy" is a wonderful study of an apparently incurable romantic, described by Irving as a "Castle-Builder". When Mr. Mountjoy discovers a delicate footprint on a sandy shore, his passion for metaphysics, creativity and romance leads him to dream up an imaginary beautiful young maiden, and he promptly fall passionately in love with the nymph of his dreams. The air castle he builds and its accompanying romanticism is crushed numerous times, even drowned, but each time is renewed and revived, just when it seems that "the cobweb romance I had been spinning" would be demolished completely. In the end Mr. Mountjoy meets the girl of his dreams, only to discover that his air castles need to be reshaped once more, and in the end, destroyed completely.
Readers used to the easy diet of modern fiction will find the pioneering work of Washington Irving rather tough to chew on. But those who delight in tasting words, biting on imaginative characters and settings, with a few sips of suspense and supernatural in the process, will discover that Washington Irving's stories are just the literary serving they are renowned to be: a classic. Irving won't please all children of the modern era. But children of literature who have acquired a fine literary taste will find that despite the heightened language of his time, Irving is still digestible and enjoyable.
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While this book was written in 1936, and buffer stock ideas have been around for centuries, his monetary forumlation of the buffer stock is a policy still ahead of its time.
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their haunting masterpiece,Streetwise,in 1983,Mary Ellen was
also busy taking snap-shots of the runaways...and what a worthwhile effort this was!
Anyone who viewed the film will recognize most of the photographs of the Seattle runaways found in the same-titled book.
The Streetwise kids lived in a sad world of uncertainty.Many had fled from abusive homes.
Mary Ellen developed a closeness with many of her young subjects,including Dewayne and Lulu.Dewayne hanged himself in 1984,and Lulu died in a fight with a man in 1985.Mary Ellen has dedicated her book in their memories.
Like every other work that she has ever created,this book is a keep-sake.I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the film documentary and in the author`s work.
Jeffrey Bryan,White Oak,NC
their haunting masterpiece,Streetwise,in 1983,Mary Ellen was
also busy taking their snap-shots...and what a worthwhile effort
this was!
Anyone who viewed the film will recognize each photograph of
the runaways of Seattle found in Mark`s same-titled book.
The Streetwise kids lived in a sad world of uncertainty,many
having fled from their abusive homes.They searched for love and
happiness in a place which offered neither.
Mary Ellen developed a kin-ship with many of her young subjects
including Dewayne and Lulu.Dewayne hanged himself in 1984,and
Lulu died in a fight with a man in 1985.Mary Ellen has dedicated
this book in their memories.
Like every other work that she has ever published,this book
is definitely a keep-sake.I highly recommend it to everyone
who is interested in the documentary film and in Mary Ellen Mark.
Jeffrey Bryan
White Oak,NC
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Originally written in the 1940's by the late Irving Stone, the book is woefully in need of an update by a prominent historian who can add Dewey, Stevenson, Goldwater, Humphrey, McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Dole and Gore. And I agree with the previous reviewer: the inside of the dust jacket is fascinating--if you can find one of these rare hard cover copies.
The book, published in 1945, consists of twenty biographical sketches of losers of presidential races from Henry Clay in 1824 to Thomas E. Dewey in 1944. THEY ALSO RAN, as well as giving biographical data on each of its subjects, includes a history of the times in which each of them lived, ran, and lost; and social, economic, and political backgrounds of each era. Using these twenty men as focal points, Stone gives us a fairly comprehensive picture of the political history of the United States from 1824 to 1944.
Now, I am going to do something that I think is rare, if not unique, in these book reviews. I'm going to devote most of the rest of this review to the dust jacket. Across the dust jacket there is a graph consisting of 21 lines ranging from minus ten (-10) to plus ten (+10). In case you're wondering, the twenty-first line is the zero (0) line in the middle. Stone refers to this zero line as "the danger line," i.e. a candidate in the negative zone may well do more harm than good if he wins the presidency. The graph rates the winners and losers of twelve elections according to Stone's estimation of each man's "ability and worth to the nation at the time of the election." The candidates are represented by silhouettes having their heads at one of the lines. For clarity and consistency, the winners are in white and the losers in outline form. It is interesting to note that the lower ranked in some years are sometimes ranked higher than either the winner or loser in other years.
Some interesting evaluations:
Highest ranked winner in any year: Abraham Lincoln (+10) in 1860. His opponent, Stephen A. Douglas had a (+1) ranking.
Lowest ranked winner in any year was Warren Harding (-9) in 1920. His opponent who lost the election was James M. Cox who was rated at (+3).
Most evenly rated election: 1928 when winner, Herbert Hoover and loser, Alfred E. Smith were both rated (+5).
In three elections the winner fell into Stone's "danger zone." These were: 1856, James Buchanan (-1); 1872, Ulysses S. Grant (-5); and 1920, Warren Harding (-9).
Of the twelve elections on the graph, according to Stone's ratings, the man more valuable to the country at the time the election was held won six times and lost five times. In the twelfth election the candidates were considered evenly qualified.
It is my opinion that Stone's research was good, and that he was as politically unbiased as was humanly possible. I would find it interesting if someone with Stone's credentials and even-handedness were to write a sequel covering the elections from 1948 through the court decided election of year 2000. Any takers?
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