This book is amazing! It is a Wharton fan's dream! I was kindly sent this book by my dear friend in America and it has proved invaluable. As an English student, I will be writing my dissertation on the life and major works of this fantastic author, and this is exactly the kind of publication that will make the whole process not only easier, but enjoyable!

This is an excellent guide for Wharton fans and scholars alike. It comes with my full reccomendation! Whether reading for pleasure or for academic purposes, it is a remarkable book.

Dude, this book is cool. its, like, really interesting and stuff and it makes me wanna go to italy. i bet italy is pretty cool from the descriptions. but thats just what i think, and i dont do it that often really. Hey, e-mail me if you have suggestions of good books or anything really. Bye!!

This beautifully illustrated book is of the "coffeetable" variety but that moniker fails to do justice for this incredible look into the life of the brillant novelist. Scores of rare photos and documents illustrate the best text I have ever read on the private life of Ms. Wharton. This is definately not the "ice queen" of other biographers; reproduced postcards and quoted letters give graphic proof of her warm and witty personality . She was clearly blessed with a remarkable capacity for friendship and unending thirst for knowledge and experiences. This is truly the finest biography ever written on the legendary lady of letters. I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is to own this volume, it proudly sits on my shelf alongside Ms. Wharton's own works. An absolute must for any reference library on Wharton!!!

In this masterful work of literary criticism, Killoran deftly opens new doors to Wharton studies. Eschewing faddish critical schools, Killoran reads between the lines to paint an original, psychologically complex work that takes us well beyond R.W.B. Lewis and Cynthia Griffin Wolfe and leads us to conclude that Wharton, rather than just a novelist of manners or a disciple of Henry James, stands apart from her peers and heralds a new, post-Freudian American literature.

Los padres de Olivia figuran entre las parejas más rutilantes de Hollywood. Lo tienen todo: fama, fortuna, amor. Hasta la noche en que la pequeña de cuatros años despierta alertada por los gritos de su madre que fue asesinada y años más tarde necesita descubrir todo lo que realmente se pasó en aquella noche...

Excellently written! One of the best pieces of literature I've read in a while. I highly recomend it.

Who better to address the empowerment of women of color than women of color? Gutierrez, a Latina and Lewis, a Black woman of the African diaspora, have taken on this auspicious task by developing a model for social work practice. They present the historical, cultural, political and socioeconomic factors which have contributed to the problems and struggles faced by women of color. By use of example, some of them anecdotal, they relate the methods by which women of color can be empowered by drawing upon the strengths of their ancestors, raising their consciousness, building confidence, connecting with others and working in concert with nature, tradition and spirit. We are told that although racism, sexism and discrimination have contributed to the poverty of these women, they are a hopeful rather than a hopeless people who can be empowered when the practioner has used the methods outlined in this book. This book should be in the hands of every practitioner who works with women of color.

Who but Dame Edith Sitwell could produce such a wonderful send-up of the British, poking fun by speaking the truth as she saw it, in The English Eccentrics. Eccentricity was often simply the Ordinary carried to a high degree of pictorial perfection, Sitwell claims, and thus we get a gifted glimpse of the usually-overlooked obvious.

Of course, there is so much material to work with, it is a wonder the book isn't multi-volumed! Originally published in 1933, it retains much of its vitality and levity despite being two generations (at least) behind the times. Sitwell caught the character of the English Eccentric at a time just before the wholesale decline of Empire, and thus the character portrayed here is a 'standard' one.

'Eccentricity exists particularly in the English, and partly, I think, because of that peculiar and satisfactory knowledge of infallibility that is the hallmark and birthright of the British nation.'

In the relating of small tales and glimpses of life, Sitwell takes us through a history of language usage and abusage, cultural niceties gone awry, personal proclivities taken to extremes, historical remembrances remembered a bit incorrectly, all the while maintaining a strong British 'we know just what we're doing, thank you, and we're doing it quite correctly' attitude.

We find hermits, both ancient and ornamental (the distinction between the two of course being a relative flash that one would think inimical to the hermit-age); quacks and alchemists, some members of the sporting set (we learn of one who, in an attempt to scare the hiccups out of himself, set fire to his nightshirt--of course he was still in it--and was satisfied despite the burns that his hiccups had been vanquished), various other sorts and sets in the land.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson to be learned from this book would the Of the Benefits of Posthumous Fame. Using Milton as the first example, Sitwell proceeds to demonstrate just how this posthumous fame (for the man who sold Paradise Lost for the meagre sum of £20) can be a great boon to all concerned, particularly those who have the foresight to collect locks of hair or write poetry about rummaging through the bone-remains of the dead poet. Of course, there followed in short order a detailed (yet anonymous) description of why the poet could not have actually handled the bones of the poet, not least of which being that as the grave said 1653, and Milton was not in fact buried until 1674, et cetera; thus begins an active correspondence of attempting to prove or disprove in fashion why Milton was not bodily handled.

This is a thoroughly English treatment; like her eccentrics, Sitwell's style of writing is likewise gloriously eccentric. Much will be missed on the first reading, and again the second; by the third reading (should you be so eccentric as to persevere through to such) you will either be so charmed by the writing that you will carry this book around, quoting passages that need context to be understood (and thus be ordained into a minor order of eccentricity yourself) or, you will give the book away to the most tedious of your friends, hoping that the friend will take the hint.

The choice is yours.

This is such a wonderful book. It is a compilation of writings from humorous, insightful and gifted women writers on issues central to women's lives. I was most drawn to learning more about how to balance femininity and grace with being a woman of strength. After reading this book, I have gone on to purchase other works from some of the featured authors - this book serves as a lovely sampler for additional reading....

Family reunions have a close connection with genealogy. For many, that's where they were first bitten by the bug, and for others, organizing a reunion is an offshoot of years of identifying previously unknown cousins. Wagner, founder and editor of REUNIONS magazine, does a very good job here of posing and answering all the questions facing anyone who contemplates planning a reunion. Why have a reunion? One family meets annually at the state monument that commemorates an 1838 Indian massacre, where one of its pioneer branches was wiped out. Another pools its resources to bring distant relatives from Ireland. A family reunion can -- perhaps -- heal breaches, end feuds, solve childhood mysteries, and provide context for kids growing up away from the extended family. The descendants of Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne meet to celebrate their ancestor's colorful history. How do you decide who's "family"? How do you locate them? When do you meet, and where? Who's in charge? And who's going to manage the expenses? How do you keep all the small children occupied? Should you put out a newsletter between reunions? You'll find here considerable collected wisdom offered by experienced reunion organizers, ranging from visiting sites that were of importance to your forebears or hiring a bus to follow an ancestor's pioneer trek, to gathering relics and documents for a local museum or publishing a volume of the family's history. The venue might be a campground or a Caribbean cruise. The food can range from a hot dog picnic or chili cookout to a memorial spread of ethnic or frontier cooking. If you're even beginning to think about a family reunion, you should read this book -- and take notes.