Average customer rating:
|
Understanding Evil: Lessons from Bosnia
Keith Doubt
Manufacturer: Fordham University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Eastern
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Ethics & Morality
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Good & Evil
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Metaphysics
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Violence in Society
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside History Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0823227006
Release Date: 2006-11-15 |
Book Description
In Understanding Evil, Keith Doubt uses the horrors of the recent war in Bosnia to develop meaningfully adequate accounts of evil within the context of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Since the foundations of the social are found in human action, evil's assault on these foundations results in the demise of the social. In Bosnia, not only were individuals, families, homes, and buildings destroyed, but entire towns and cities were obliterated. Not only were individual human beings murdered, but so was the history and memory of vibrant communities. Crimes against humanity in Bosnia, Doubt argues, were "sociocidal"; they were systematic attacks on social life itself. The book develops the significance of "sociocide" as what evil is in order to understand the suffering and tragedy of the people and communities in Bosnia.
Book Description
Scientists, theologians, and the spiritually inclined, as well as all those concerned with humanity's increasingly widespread environmental impact, are beginning to recognize that our ongoing abuse of the earth diminishes our moral as well as our material condition. Many people are coming to believe that strengthening the bonds among spirituality, science, and the natural world offers an important key to addressing the pervasive environmental problems we face.
The Good in Nature and Humanity brings together 20 leading thinkers and writers - including Ursula Goodenough, Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan, Carl Safina, David Petersen, Wendell Berry, Terry Tempest Williams, and Barry Lopez - to examine the divide between faith and reason, and to seek a means for developing an environmental ethic that will help us confront two of our most imperiling crises: global environmental destruction and an impoverished spirituality. The book explores the ways in which science, spirit, and religion can guide the experience and understanding of our ongoing relationship with the natural world and examines how the integration of science and spirituality can equip us to make wiser choices in using and managing the natural environment. The book also provides compelling stories that offer a narrative understanding of the relations among science, spirit, and nature.
Grounded in the premise that neither science nor religion can by itself resolve the prevailing malaise of environmental and moral decline, contributors seek viable approaches to averting environmental catastrophe and, more positively, to achieving a more harmonious relationship with the natural world. By bridging the gap between the rational and the religious through the concern of each for understanding the human relation to creation, The Good in Nature and Humanity offers an important means for pursuing the quest for a more secure and meaningful world.
Book Description
While few would argue that young professors enter the academy equipped with the knowledge of their field, they are often unprepared to navigate the ins and outs of faculty life. Nor is there anyone to help steer them. Good Start is a guide for new faculty members commencing their teaching career at a liberal arts college. Using a combination of personal experience and substantive research, Gerald Gibson has written an engaging, practical book dealing with all aspects of being a faculty member.
The book begins with the basics about selecting the right college to work at, going through the application, interview, and negotiation process, and getting oriented to the job and the college. He expounds on finding one’s role within the larger liberal arts tradition, how to focus on good teaching, and deciding where scholarship fits into the equation. Gibson discusses the faculty member’s role in the department, the organization, and the community. He offers practical measures to manage time and stress, while staying effective, and gives guidance on working through career phases toward promotion and tenure. Concluding with counsel on “how to stay good” as a teacher, scholar, and citizen, Gibson demystifies the process of getting the job, being a good colleague, contributing to a vital department, and developing a life-long plan of personal and professional growth.
Book Description
Astonishing answers to unspoken questions revealed!
Geoffrey Kofi Akuamoa (Jeff Akvama) was born in Ghana and raised in Europe, son of Ghanai an mother and father. He was educated in Europe,at College of Science and Technology, Birmingham, U.K; University Medical school at Zurich ,Switzerland; Medical University of Kiel, Germany; Medical University of Copenhagen Denmark; and Medical University of Oslo, Norway .He is the author of several scientific publications ,such as Achalasia Oesophagi and Associated Diseases ,Risus Sardonicus, Subcutan Impressions caused by dipers, Safety Belts and Traffic, Physiological aspects of Comparative Medicines, Chemically induced Disease in Women etc, receiving many awards. He was appointed Professor in Education and Academic Affairs, Colombo. .MD, PhD, DSc, FIBA. Lectured a great deal in medicine including subjects such as Pain syndromes in London. He is a specialist in General Medicine and has received many awards from the International Biographical Association as well as the American Biographical Institute.
Customer Reviews:
WE LEARN TO LIVE.......2007-04-06
The book is about people,places and changes shifting from the past to the present.The book seeks some centre of meaning in life. It presents to everyone about what happened to people of the world centuries ago; the configuration of people,their understanding and the role of each individual person on Earth. The book tells about historical events of West Africa in the 15th century in such a way that it is easy to understand. It tells a little history about Portugal and what promted them to sail to West Africa.It tells about history of the Netherlands and their aim and what prompted them to visit West Africa in the first place. I was enlightened about the slave trade, and the booming exports of cocoa,gold,diamonds in Ghana and why West Africa has become what it is today. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List
Average customer rating:
|
Good to Talk? Living and Working in a Communication Culture
Deborah Cameron
Manufacturer: Sage Publications Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Communications
| Skills
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Postmodernism
| Movements & Periods
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mental Health
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Social Theory
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Culture
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Linguistics
| Words & Language
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Communicating for Life: Christian Stewardship in Community and Media (RenewedMinds)
ASIN: 0761957715 |
Book Description
It's good to talk is one of the great cliches of our time. The benefits of talk to individuals, families and organizations are proclaimed by pop psychologists, television talk show hosts, and management gurus. The importance of talk is talked about endlessly. Good to Talk? is an attempt to look critically at what lies behind this upsurge of concern about talk in our workplaces, classrooms and private lives, and it places these developments in historical context and relates their forms to the broader economic and social changes associated with globalization. The book also poses questions about the social and political implications of talking about talking. Is `communication' the key to solving the problems of modern life? Are the lessons in talking that are offered to us now the ones we most urgently need to learn? Is it time to challenge the prevailing belief about what makes it good to talk?
Average customer rating:
|
Everyday Life: Renaissance (Everyday Life (Good Year Books))
Walter A. Hazen
Manufacturer: Good Year Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Renaissance
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Renaissance
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Education
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Elementary School
| Education
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| General
| Reading
Humanities
| Specific Skills
| Education
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Everyday Life: Ancient Times (Everyday Life)
ASIN: 1596470097 |
Book Description
"Share the excitement of the revival of the arts and sciences and the achievements of Renaissance artists, writers, scientists, and explorers. Students will learn about the religious upheaval of the 1500s, investigate scientific breakthroughs, and join maj"
Book Description
The only career book to match the right job to your big-hearted personality
The inspiring Careers for Good Samaritans and Other Humanitarian Types encourages you to embrace your individuality by finding the job that matches your character traits.
Includes:
- Suggested jobs in a wide range of settings, from the office to the outdoors
- A selection of jobs with different levels of educational requirements
- Advice on competing in hot job markets
- Tips on transforming hobbies into job skills
Book Description
'Geophysical Data in Archaeology' in the Arts and Humanities Data Service Guides to Good Practice series is a basic guide to good practice in the creation, methodology, use and storage of geophysical data for archaeologists who increasingly use sophisticated methods for collecting and interpreting information.
The Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) has produced this series of Guides to Good Practice to provide the arts and humanities research and teaching communities with practical instruction in applying recognized standards and good practice to the creation, preservation and use of digital resources. All Guides identify and explore key issues and provide comprehensive pointers for those who need more specific information. As such they are essential reference material for anyone interested in computer-assisted research and teaching in the arts and humanities.
Average customer rating:
|
Everyday Life: World War I (Everyday Life (Good Year Books))
Walter Hazen
Manufacturer: Good Year Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Military & Wars
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
World War I
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Humanities
| Specific Skills
| Education
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1596470747 |
Book Description
An easy-to-read and compelling narrative of the "war to end all wars." Students will learn about trench warfare, weapon development, leaders and major battles, as well as which country started the war but later withdrew and which country started on one side and finished on the other. Crossword puzzles, Venn diagrams and activities that engage your students in language arts, math and critical thinking skills follow each chapter.
Average customer rating:
- The Great Southern Writer Who Wasn't Southern
- Creations of a unique voice.
- An Essential
|
Eudora Welty : Stories, Essays & Memoir (Library of America, 102)
Eudora Welty
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Authors
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
20th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Women Writers & Feminist Theory
| Books & Reading
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Essays
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Criticism & Theory
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Ford, Richard
| ( F )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Welty, Eudora
| ( W )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Women Writers
| Women's Studies
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Eudora Welty : Complete Novels: The Robber Bridegroom, Delta Wedding, The Ponder Heart, Losing Battles, The Optimist's Daughter (Library of America)
-
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
-
Poetic Meter and Poetic Form
-
Opened Ground: Selected Poems, 1966-1996
-
The Poetry of Robert Frost
ASIN: 1883011558 |
Amazon.com
It's small wonder that the Library of America chose Eudora Welty as the first living (at that time) author published in this prestigious series. Welty was the kind of writer people routinely call "an American institution." But don't let the sweet white-haired-old-lady image fool you: Welty's work is anything but benign. For more than 50 years, Welty spoke with a fierce and uncompromising literary voice. Or, rather, voices: the stories collected in this volume feature a dizzying array of characters, each of whom seems to whisper directly into the reader's ear. From the toxic rage of "Where Is the Voice Coming From?" to the jazzy rhythms of "Powerhouse," these tales blaze with intensity and a comic energy that's both gentle and fierce. Even that bane of junior-high-school speech tournaments everywhere, "Why I Live at the P.O.," benefits from rereading; as far as this brand of down-home farce goes, Welty does it better than anyone. Bringing together the contents of Welty's four short-fiction collections, this Library of America volume also includes several essays as well as Welty's very fine 1984 memoir, "One Writer's Beginnings." In it she speaks of connections, continuities, the way both her fiction and her experiences emerged gradually into focus over time:
...suddenly a light is thrown back, as when your train makes a curve, showing that there has been a mountain of meaning rising behind you on the way you've come, is rising there still, proven now through retrospect.
This volume is that light thrown back; the full import of Welty's enormously influential work is perhaps apparent only now, in this substantial and rewarding retrospective of her career. --Mary Park
Customer Reviews:
The Great Southern Writer Who Wasn't Southern.......2006-12-21
Each new volume from The Library of America, the non-profit publisher that has become the de facto literary hall of fame, is a cause for celebration. Its goal of preserving in an enduring format the best fiction and non-fiction is a significant bulwark against the encroaching tides of cultural relativism that attempts to render any value judgments meaningless, as well as a consumer society that insists that if it ain't new, it ain't good.
In the case of Eudora Welty, we're given two volumes: a collection of five novels ("The Robber Bridegroom," "Delta Wedding," "The Ponder Heart," "Losing Battles" and the Pulitzer-winning "The Optimist's Daughter"), and another of her essays, her memoir "One Writer's Beginnings" and her short stories. From her first published short stories, "Lily Daw and the Three Ladies" in 1937, to her last novel in 1972, Welty captures with her highly readable style and sharp eye and ear the varieties and eccentricities of Southern life.
But while the South claims Welty as one of its own, she may not necessarily return the favor. Teh cause is both geographic and a matter of choice. Although she was born in Jackson, Miss., in 1909 and lived there all her life, her father was from Ohio and her mother from West Virginia, a state created by the Civil War that went for the Union. This isn't Margaret Mitchell we're talking about here.
Then, in her essay "Place in Fiction," she stresses that while it is important for a writer to capture the feeling of an area, it is not the paramount goal in fiction:
"It is through place that we put out roots ... but where those roots reach toward ... is the deep and running vein, eternal and consistent and everywhere purely itself, that feeds and is fed by the human understanding."
But what pedigree does not provide, her environment probably did, for her work contains those elements poularly associated with Southern fiction. "Delta Wedding" celebrates the Southern family through the sprawling Fairchild clan and its passel of sons, daughters, cousins, aunts, great-aunts, nieces and nephews, all involved in each others' lives to a degree rarely seen today.
Many of her stories revolve around characters marginalized by society, struggling to exist and reach out to others: the simple Lily Daw who tries to evade the determination of the town's ladies to either marry her off or send her to the asylum; the generous, slightly retarded Daniel Ponder who would give away everything he has at the drop of a hat; the demented Clytie in "A Curtain of Green," who rushes about looking in people's faces until, seeing her reflection in a barrel of rainwater, dives in and drowns.
Eudora Welty was a sharp, perceptive writer, and her enshrinement by the Library of America is most welcome.
Creations of a unique voice........2003-08-02
"Listening," "Learning to See" and "Finding a Voice," Eudora Welty entitled the three chapters of her autobiography "One Writer's Beginnings," the concluding entry in this collection, one of the two Library of America compilations dedicated to her work. And while these may be steps that most writers will undergo at some point, Welty's compact autobiography is notable both because it allows a rare glimpse into the celebrated writer's otherwise fiercely protected private life and it illustrates the roots from which sprang such extraordinary protagonists as "The Ponder Heart"'s Edna Earle and Daniel Ponder, Miss Eckhart and the Morgana families in "The Golden Apples" and, of course, the anti-heroes of her Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Optimist's Daughter," Judge McKelva, his second wife Fay and (most importantly) his daughter Laurel.
A native and - with minimal exceptions - lifelong resident of Jackson, Mississippi, Welty received her first introduction to storytelling as a listener; and early on, learned to sharpen her ears not only to a story's contents but also to its narrator and its protagonists' individual nature: "[T]here [never was] a line read that I didn't hear," and "any room ... at any time of day, was there to read in, or to be read to," she notes in "One Writer's Beginnings," adding that the discovery that all those stories had been written by someone, not come into existence of their own, not only surprised but also severely disappointed her. Equally importantly, family visits to relatives brought out the born observer in her; each trip providing its own lessons and revelations, each a story onto itself - the seed from which later grew the literary creations collected in this compilation and its companion volume. At the same time, her father's interest in technology introduced her to photography as a means of capturing visual impressions, one moment at a time; and when traveling around Mississippi as an agent for a state agency (her first job) she learned to use that camera as "a hand-held auxiliary of wanting-to-know" and discovered that "to be able to capture transience, by being ready to click the shutter at the crucial moment, was [then] the greatest need I had" ("One Writer's Beginnings:" Not surprisingly, her photography was published in several collections which have found much acclaim of their own.)
Thus, from early childhood on, Eudora Welty not only had a keen sense of the world around her but also, of words as such: of their existence as much as the interrelation between their sound, physical appearance and the things they stand for. Encouraged by her mother, a teacher, and over her father's worries (he considered fiction writing an occupation of dubitable financial promise and, worse, inferior to fact because it was "not true") Welty embarked on a writer's path which would lead her to award-winning heights and to a reputation as one of the South's finest writers, with as abounding as obvious comparisons to fellow Mississippian William Faulkner in particular; a literary debt she acknowledged when she wrote that "his work, though it can't increase in itself, increases us" and "[w]hat is written in the South from now on is going to be taken into account by Faulkner's work" ("Must the Novelist Crusade?", 1965). The Library of America dedicated two volumes to her work; one containing her novels, the other - this one - her short stories, essays (some, like her autobiography, based on a series of lectures) and her autobiography.
An approach that Welty developed early on was to consider the publication of her stories in periodicals merely a step towards each story's final shape, and she generally revised her stories before including them in collections. This compilation brings together all her short stories in the versions intended to be final by Welty herself: the 1941 edition of "A Curtain of Green and Other Stories" (her first short story collection), the 1943 edition of "The Wide Net and Other Stories" and the 1949 edition of "The Golden Apples" - each collection suffered substantial editorial revisions in subsequent publications. Included are also two stand-alone short stories ("Where is This Voice Coming From?" and "The Demonstrators"), the first one inspired by the 1963 murder of Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers and revised by Welty over the telephone after having been accepted by "The New Yorker," to avoid a potentially prejudicial effect of its original ending on the then-impending trial.
A keen observer, Welty was also a writer endowed with a sharp sense of humor and satire, and with the gift to brilliantly use location, localisms, accents, patterns of speech and customs to make a point. Not a single word is wasted: "Marrying must have been some of his showing off - like man never married at all till *he* flung in," we're told about King MacLain in the opening story of "The Golden Apples," "Shower of Gold." And you don't have to learn anything more about the man, do you? Equally as instructive on Welty's writing are the eight essays included in this collection, all taken from the 1978 compilation "The Eye of the Story" and dealing with particular aspects of her own fiction as much as, more generally, with "Place in Fiction" (1954) and the fiction writer's role ("Writing and Analyzing a Story," originally published in 1955 under the title "How I Write" and substantially revised for its inclusion in "The Eye of the Story" and "Must the Novelist Crusade?").
"There is no explanation outside fiction for what its writer is learning to do," Eudora Welty maintained in "Writing and Analyzing a Story;" explaining that each story references only the writer's vision at the moment of the creation of that story, and the creative process itself: nothing that can be "mapped and plotted" but a product taking shape in the process of creation itself, giving each story a unique identity of its own. And while her fiction, alas, can no longer grow any more than Faulkner's, she has left us enough of those unique creations to cherish for a long time to come.
An Essential.......2002-05-01
At the time of her death, Eudora Welty was widely regarded as America's single greatest living author. Although she produced several critically acclaimed novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER, Welty achieved her greatest fame through mastery of that most difficult of all literary forms, the short story.
Welty's skill with short stories is amazing, for she possessed a talent that combined a remarkable ear for the spoken word, meticulous observation of physical world, and the truly mysterious ability to slip almost effortlessly into the very marrow of the characters she depicts. Her comic stories are perhaps best known to the public in general, but she is equally at home with provocative and unsettling material, and although her tales are most often firmly rooted in America's deep south they have a sense of humanity that transcends the limitations of purely regional literature.
In addition to stories previously collected under the titles A CURTAIN OF GREEN, THE WIDE NET, THE GOLDEN APPLES, and THE BRIDE OF THE INNISFALLEN, this Library of America publication also includes the independently published stories "Where Is the Voice Coming From?" and "The Demonstrators," nine selected essays, and Welty's memoir ONE WRITER'S BEGINNINGS. A chronology of Welty's life up to 1996, textual notes, and general notes (including Katherine Anne Porter's introduction for A CURTAIN OF GREEN) are also included. This book (and its Library of America) companion, EUDORA WELTY: COMPLETE NOVELS) are essentials for any one who admires Welty's work and wishes to possess it in handy, collected form; those who have had limited exposure to Welty's work, however, might be better served by smaller collections.
Amazon.com
Among the most beloved of American writers, Eudora Welty's stories and novels have entertained us for over half a century. Here, in her memoirs, she writes with her usual candor and grace about how a writer's sensibilities are shaped. As compelling as her stories, as witty as her personality, as finely honed as her fiction, Welty's account of her life is a powerful and fulfilling read.
Customer Reviews:
very interesting.......2007-07-16
I found this book interesting as it brought me into a world that existed for a young girl in 1925. It's well written and not too taxing. If one is interested in how to write about themselves it's a great tool. (Although it doesn't give directions, it shows by example).
To learn to listen for the stories.......2007-03-15
This is an outstanding memoir. In telling of her own development as a writer Welty devotes much time to telling the story of her parents, and their families. She writes of them with respect, understanding and appreciation. She also by telling the story of the families gives a picture of the American world of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
While Welty does not devote most of her pages to describing her authorial practice she does provide insightful passages into her overall development. Here is a key one
" But it was not until I began to write, as I seriously did only when I reached my twenties, that I found the world out there revealing, because ( as with my father now)memory had become attached to seeing , love had added itself to discovery and because I recognized in my own continuing longing to keep going , the need I carried inside myself to know- the apprehension first, and then the passion, to connect myself to it. Through travel I first became aware of the outside world ; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way of becoming part of it."
Welty in the opening section of the work tells how she learned to listen not simply to, but for the stories which she would make literature out of. In the second section she speaks of 'Learning to See' .and the third is devoted to 'Finding a Voice'.
Again I was impressed by her ability to write even of minor characters in her life with perception and sympathy.
A fine work.
Inspirational for new student writers.......2006-07-13
Eudora Welty does an excellent job of understanding the importance of storytelling as it relates to becoming a writer. My students in the ENG101 Comp course have said this book was inspirational in jump starting their writing assignments for the course. They said she gave them many ideas; she presented herself as a "real" person - not an author they felt were "above them"...a great beginning for one writer's beginnings...in this case, my students!
Wonderful, warm story.......2006-05-25
What a lovely, warm and engaging little book! I have read many of Miss Welty's works, and wanted to know what makes such a talented writer "tick". I loved this book for the insight on growing up in the South, and for the kind way in which she wrote about her family. With so many people out there writing books about how terrible their upbringing was-this was truly refreshing. My house was a lot like hers in a way-every room was one in which books could be read. One of the most memorable lines in the book was "Learning stamps you with its moments". Miss Welty seemed very curious about the world around her and this was encouraged by her parents. This curiousity is what made her a wonderful writer. A lot of her memories of her childhood make appearances in her stories. I highly recommend "One Writer's Beginnings" to anyone who is curious about Miss Welty's work, or anyone who is already a fan and wants to know more about her.
Wonderful Book!.......2004-07-21
I pick this book up and read it over and over again. It's WONDERFUL! Ms. Welty does a great job explaining her life growing up in Jackson, Mississippi in the first half of the 20th Century and how it influenced her writing. Her descriptions of her school prinicipal and the town librarian are priceless as are her descriptions of sunday school at the Methodist Church. Originally delivered as a part of the Massey Lectures on American Civilization at Harvard University, she did a wonderful job spinning these into a super little book. After reading the book I had to visit her home in Jackson and see Jefferson Davis School across the street.
Amazon.com
"They'd have a hard time trying to find out something about me," Eudora Welty once told an interviewer to explain her fierce aversion to biography. Ann Waldron, who has written well-received biographies of Southern novelist Caroline Gordon and editor Hodding Carter, discovered just how hard a time when she set out to write the first, and of course unauthorized, biography of this "sanctified, canonized, apotheosized" literary figure. But Waldron persisted to brilliant results: Eudora: A Writer's Life is not only a fully detailed portrait but a fair and balanced one.
"Ugly to the point of being grotesque," as a fellow Mississippian said of her, Welty, who was born in Jackson in 1909, always made her way by charm, wit, and an offbeat sense of humor. Though Waldron admits that few of Welty's friends would talk to her, she nonetheless tracked down amazing amounts of new material on her personal life--her tense, guilt-ridden relationship with her widowed mother; her sustaining friendships with such literary figures as Katherine Anne Porter, Elizabeth Bowen, and Reynolds Price; and her possible romance with the mysterious John Robinson, who, like many of the men in Welty's life, turned out to be gay.
Waldron does a creditable, if at times perfunctory, job of following the trajectory of Welty's literary career--from her first hauntingly strange short stories collected in A Curtain of Green to whimsical productions of her midcareer like The Ponder Heart to her "warm, appealing, beautifully written" memoir, One Writer's Beginnings. Literary analysis is scant here, but that's fine, because many others have written at length and in depth about Welty's work. But only Ann Waldron has dared to do the life--and she has succeeded in making it clear, sympathetic, respectful, and wonderfully readable. --David Laskin
Book Description
Eudora Welty is a beloved institution of Southern fiction and American literature, whose closely guarded privacy has prevented a full-scale study of her life and work--until now.
A significant contribution to the world of letters, Ann Waldron's biography chronicles the history and achievements of one of our greatest living authors, from a Mississippi childhood to the sale of her first short story, from her literary friendships with Katherine Anne Porter and Elizabeth Bowen to her rivalry with Carson McCullers.
Elegant and authoritative, this first biography to chart the life of a national treasure is a must-have for Welty fans and scholars everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw for Bookreporter.com.......2000-03-28
Interpretations of books may differ, but most readers agree that an author's lot in life is to unlock diaries, tell secrets, and share the intimate thoughts of their characters. But when it comes to sharing their lives, some authors are more willing to bare their pasts and share their inspiration than others. Eudora Welty did not embrace the notion of her life populating pages of a biography, yet Ann Waldron portrays the author in EUDORA: A Writer's Life in a way that will surely prompt a renewed interest in her works.
Waldron employs a stark style of writing that is at times dry, listing dates and events with little commentary, but her simplicity allows the richness of her content to shine. A book that promises to enthrall readers whose literary interests have led to Welty's novels, EUDORA: A Writer's Life will undoubtedly serve as a useful reference.
Those whose interest in Welty precedes her novels should be prepared for a sneak peek into the author's development of characters and the personal experiences that may have molded them in her mind. Using quotes from interviews and snippets from correspondence, Waldron is able to project Welty's voice in a way that allows readers to hear Welty as though she were in the same room. Writers will especially appreciate one quote from Welty, in which she explains the way she discovered one character's role in several short stories. "All I had to do was put two and two together, him and my little group, and I had him by the tail," she said.
While Waldron shares some of Welty's inner thoughts, as documented in letters and such, she does not presume to analyze the meaning behind Welty's stories or the motivation of her characters, a practice that Welty openly disparaged. In one chapter, Welty comments on letters she received from readers wanting to know whether a character's choice of an apple in "A Visit of Charity" is a reference to the Garden of Eden. Welty, whose impatience resonates in her quote said of the question, "The things some people teach! She was just eating that [an apple] the way you would a Hershey bar --- or anything else you'd saved for a reward after an ordeal. I used to visit the old ladies. They scared me. I couldn't wait to leave."
This quote and others help to draw a picture of Welty, often called "Eudo" by family and friends and loved unilaterally by colleagues, friends, family, and audiences around the world. She was not, however, a woman who enjoyed the social life of the times. Her looks are described by some as ugly, off-putting, and odd; but such descriptions are always followed by praise of her character, her zest for life, and her talent as a writer. Welty's looks may have prevented a slightly less creative girl from achieving similar heights, but she seemed to channel both the negative and the positives of her life into her work. She was able to transcend the superficiality of the times, which put a staggering amount of importance on looks, and is remembered by colleagues as a woman before her time.
The book, which spans 340 pages, also delves into the network of literary giants that Welty cultivated. From her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi to New York City and abroad Welty toured, spoke, and nurtured a growing base of loyal friends and fans. She was called approachable by students who attended her lectures and lovable by friends who shared intimate moments and memories with her. Well respected and revered by writers, editors, and publishers, Welty was a multifaceted woman who first tested creative waters as a photographer who was known to walk into less fortunate neighborhoods and take pictures of people from all walks of life.
Welty identified her dream to be a writer in the early 20s and her determination led her from the society pages of a daily Mississippi newspaper to becoming junior publicist for the Works Progress Administration; and, later, a novelist whose life is of interest to readers around the world.
After reading about her life, I find myself recalling characters that at one point or another find themselves in similar circumstances or places that Eudora experienced, and have already put her autobiography titled ONE WRITER'S BEGINNINGS on my literary wish list.
--- Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw
Rewarding glimpses into a remarkable life.......1999-07-29
I spent most of the weekend immersed in this book--and becoming enchanted with Eudora Welty. Monday I was at the library getting several of her works. I wanted to start at the beginning, so I read her first short story--Death of a Traveling Salesman. It was as gripping and powerful as I had hoped. This biography is respectful and insightful. It provides you with a strong sense of a gentle, talented southern lady who was absolutely true to herself and the world in which she spent her life and nurtured her talents. I am looking forward to reading everything Eudora Welty wrote and getting to know her. And it all began with this biography.
The Petrified Biographer.......1999-04-13
This is a terrible, mean-spirited attack against our greatest living writer, attacking her looks, her private life, etc. Eudora Welty has said throughout her life that she didn't want a biography written about her. This woman obviously does not respect her or she would respect her wishes. And why do such a book at this late date, with Miss Welty about to turn 90?? The author coyly pretends to be an admirer and then makes endless lurid allusions to a lady who basically has devoted her whole life to cultivating her art. Our most gifted writer is dismissed as a homely, unwanted "fag hag." (Judging by the photo of the dust jacket, Miss Waldron is no Hedy Lamarr herself). What would Edna Earle say about such a woman!! Don't buy this garbage. Buy another copy of one of Miss Eudora's books instead. You'll love it and it won't upset your stomach. To think some poor trees had to be slaughtered for this trash!! By the way, Happy 90th Birthday to Miss Eudora Welty who will certainly survive such a infantile attack as this. And someday an HONORABLE biography about her no will doubt be written.
Customer Reviews:
Good Conversation with a Great Author .......2005-05-11
Eudora Welty is I believe the only author to be honored with a second volume in the "Conversations with" series published by Univerisity of Mississippi - but that has less to do with state pride on their queen of letters than the fact that Welty thoroughly deserves a second volume, not only because of her importance as a writer but because of her keen insights on writing, literature, and life. Ever gracious, she always went out of her way for an interviewer, never treating journalists as if they were pests that had to be dealt with on occasion like some writers. I confess I enjoy reading about Miss Welty almost as much as I do reading her own works, it's so rare to find a major author with such humanity, good humor, and grace. Aspiring authors would do well not just to study her work but to study the woman, Miss Welty was a role model on every level.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Weekly Standard, published by Thomson Gale on September 4, 2006. The length of the article is 2150 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Eudora in Love; The emotional life of a great American writer.(Eudora Welty: A Biography)(Book review)
Author: Ann Stapleton
Publication:
The Weekly Standard (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 4, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 11
Issue: 47
Page: NA
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- Welcome to the Fallen Paradise
- William McKinley and His America
- A Single, Numberless Death
- Quotable Reagan: Words of Wit, Wisdom, Statesmanship By and About Ronald Reagan, America's Great Communicator (Potent Quotables)
- Abraham Lincoln, the boy, the man
- Abraham Lincoln : The War Years, Complete In Four Volumes
- Adiós muchachos
- African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Naturalist (Capstick Adventure Library)
- After twelve months of war
- Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Access 2003, Introductory, CourseCard Edition
- Close Your Eyes
- The Stranglers: Song by Song, 1974-1990
- Yankee Magazine's Living Well on a Shoestring: 1,501 Ingenious Ways to Spend Less for What You Need
- CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide, 5th Edition
- Closing Argument: Defending
- Ciao!
- Activity-Based Management: Today's Powerful New Tool for Controlling Costs and Creating Profits
- Workers Without Frontiers: The Impact Of Globalization On International Migration
- Peliculas de Mi Vida, Las: Una Novela
