Written from the 1940s through the 1960s, these stories represent the major short works of fiction by one of the most distinctively American stylists of her day. Jean Stafford wrote of men and, especially, women alone and adrift in New York City in such stories as "Children Are Bored on Sunday"; of children surrounded by the harshness of rural Colorado and of the adults around them in "In the Zoo"; and of a young woman from Nashville bewildered and then angered by her first experience of petty French society in "Maggie Meriwether's Rich Experience." Employing a spare style that is sometimes distant, sometimes ironic, sometimes unexpectedly sharp or hilarious, the writer communicates the small details of loneliness and connection, the search for freedom and the desire to belong, that not only capture the lives of her protagonists but also convey with an elegant economy of words the places and times in which they find themselves. This volume also includes the story "An Influx of Poets," which has never before appeared in book form. -- Adapted from page [4] of cover.
Probably the best young prose writer in the U.S.," as Time oncecalled her, Jean Stafford made a selection of her favorite among the stories she published in The New Yorker and elsewhere since 1944. Children Are Bored on Sunday displays at its height the mordant wit and sensibility which has distinguished Miss Stafford's work since her first successful novel, Boston Adventure, appeared in 1944. The stories in this book vary in mood from the title piece, a satirical examination of avant-garde intellectual life in New York through the eyes of a self-styled "rube," to the quietly affecting novella "The Home Front," about a German doctor in an American defense plant town. The backgrounds of the stories are equally varied: one is set in the Virgin Islands, two in Germany, one in Oklahoma and one in Maine, and one - "The Interior Castle" - in the featureless ether-smelling world of a hospital where the heroine is recovering after a near-fatal accident. The central figure of one story is a fat girl who imagines herself to be twins and who cannot stop eating; in another we meet Jim Littlefield, an orphan Indian boy of 8, who has "come on the train barefoot all the way from Missouri." In "The Bleeding Heart" appears an invalid old lady whose speech has lost its verbs ("I her!" she cries), while her parrot, aged 48, has lost all speech, but the eternally reiterated, "Just a minute." The versatile forms of these stories - ranging from satire to interior monologues, from pathos to grotesquerie - are carried out in a style so consistently controlled, so full of imaginative power and so alive to nuance both verbal and pictorial, that the collection takes on a compelliing unity in its very diversity, and will add to the already impressive reputation Miss Stafford's three novels have won her
Eight-year-old Molly and her ten-year-old brother Ralph are inseparable, in league with each other against the stodgy and stupid routines of school and daily life; against their prim mother and prissy older sisters; against the world of authority and perhaps the world itself. One summer they are sent from the genteel Los Angeles suburb that is their home to backcountry Colorado, where their uncle Claude has a ranch. There the children encounter an enchanting new world—savage, direct, beautiful, untamed—to which, over the next few years, they will return regularly, enjoying a delicious double life. And yet at the same time this other sphere, about which they are both so passionate, threatens to come between their passionate attachment to each other. Molly dreams of growing up to be a writer, yet clings ever more fiercely to the special world of childhood. Ralph for his part feels the growing challenge, and appeal, of impending manhood. Youth and innocence are hurtling toward a devastating end.
Jean Stafford's unforgettable portrait of Marguerite Oswald, the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald. Curious about “the influences and accidents and loves and antipathies and idiosyncrasies” that shaped Lee Harvey Oswald, the novelist and short story writer Jean Stafford spent nine hours interviewing Marguerite Oswald in May 1965. A Mother in History (1966) is the acerbic result, an indelible portrait of a woman hungry for money, fame, and attention, full of righteous self-pity, and relentless in professing her son’s blamelessness: “Killing does not necessarily mean badness. You find killing in some very fine homes for one reason or another.” Stafford’s controversial profile elicited mixed reviews—Newsweek praised it as a “masterpiece of character study,” while Time called it “the most abrasively unpleasant book in recent years”—and angry readers accused her of seeking to “enthrone a wicked woman” and “demolish the sacred throne of motherhood.” It captures a moment in history when the trauma of Dallas was still raw, Lee Harvey Oswald’s guilt was widely accepted, and Marguerite Oswald, with her obsessive “research” into hidden “truths” and the machinations of an omnipresent “they,” appeared to be a singular prisoner of maternal delusion, and not a harbinger of the decades to come.
The clever but lonely feline hero of this charming tale pursues a friendship that leads to comic confusion. "A lighthearted concoction of extraordinary events, told with affection and humor." — The New York Times.
On June 22, 1978, Melvin Lorenz, his wife, Linda, and son, Richard, were killed near Purcell, Oklahoma. Twenty-four days later, on July 16, six employees of a Sirloin Stockade Restaurant in southwest Oklahoma City were herded into a freezer and shot to death. Hundreds of law enforcement members worked for eight months to track down the killers. In October and November 1979, Roger Dale Stafford was convicted of first degree murder of nine people. However, he was not executed until 1995. This murder story coming from the heart of Oklahoma deserves to be told. It includes the behind-the-scenes perspective of law enforcement officers involved.
This book provides an in-depth exploration of the rich and persistent use of analogical thinking in the built environment. Since the turn of the 21st century, design thinking has permeated many fields outside of the design disciplines. It is expected to succeed whenever disciplinary boundaries need to be transcended in order to think outside the box. This book argues that these qualities have long been supported by analogical thinking-an agile way of reasoning in which think the unknown through the familiar. The book is organized into four case studies: the first reviews analogical models that have been at the heart of design thinking representations from the 1960s to the present day; the second investigates the staying power of biological analogies; the third explores the paradoxical imaginary of "analogous cities" as a means of integrating contemporary architecture with heritage contexts; while the fourth unpacks the critical and theoretical potential of linguistic metaphors and visual comparisons in architectural discourse. Comparing views on the role of analogies and metaphors by prominent voices in architecture and related disciplines from the 17th century to the present, the book shows how the analogical world of the project is revealed as a wide-open field of creative and cognitive interactions. These visual and textual operations are explained through 36 analogical plates which can be read as an inter-text demonstrating how analogy has the power to reconcile design and theories.
In this "memoir" by Elizabeth I, legendary historical novelist Jean Plaidy reveals the Virgin Queen as she truly was: the bewildered, motherless child of an all-powerful father; a captive in the Tower of London; a shrewd politician; a lover of the arts; and eventually, an icon of an era. It is the story of her improbable rise to power and the great triumphs of her reign--the end of religious bloodshed, the settling of the New World, the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Brilliantly clever, a scholar with a ready wit, she was also vain, bold, and unpredictable, a queen who commanded--and won--absolute loyalty from those around her. But in these pages, in her own voice, Elizabeth also recounts the emotional turmoil of her life: the loneliness of power; the heartbreak of her lifelong love affair with Robert Dudley, whom she could never marry; and the terrible guilt of ordering the execution of her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. In this unforgettable novel, Elizabeth emerges as one of the most fascinating and controversial women in history, and as England’s greatest monarch.
Few individuals can document their ancestry back 85 generations. Even fewer can trace their ancestry to the Merovingian, Capetian, and Carolingian Kings, the Sea-Kings of Norway, the Ancient Irish Kings of Tara, and the Grail Fisher Kings of ancient Wales. These ancestry lines extend as far back as 780 BC in the ancient city of Jerusalem, at Tara Castle in Ireland, and Skarra Brae in ancient Orkney. Family names such as Wolter, Schwartz, Hanke, Kittlesby, Rolefson, Austin, Scott, Thorndyke, Madill, Easley and Russell soon give way to Grunewald and Albrechts from Germany, Brandt from Norway and Allington, Sinclair, Ruthven, Plantagenet, Redmayne, DeGotham, Waldegrave, de La Tour, DeVere, and de Coucy of Britain and Normandy - to Rollo, Halfdan Sveidisoon, Thorfinn of Orkney, Frosti, King of Kvenland and Owain of Wales. Queens, Kings, Earls and Templar Knights, Lords and Barons dominate the lines; all ambitious, powerful and enigmatic leaders of the past who encouraged and fought for the future that we enjoy.
Bronwyn has moved to her dream job in the outback town of Pinder's Creek. She finds job satisfaction and love. But something odd is happening. People are disappearing. Is it just the life, work, or something more sinister?
As Henry VIII's only child, the future seemed golden for Princess Mary. She was the daughter of Henry's first queen, Katharine of Aragon, and was heir presumptive to the throne of England. Red-haired like her father, she was also intelligent and deeply religious like her staunchly Catholic mother. But her father's ill-fated love for Anne Boleyn would shatter Mary's life forever. The father who had once adored her was now intent on having a male heir at all costs. He divorced her mother and, at the age of twelve, Mary was banished from her father’s presence, stripped of her royal title, and replaced by his other children--first Elizabeth, then Edward. Worst of all, she never saw her beloved mother again; Katharine was exiled too, and died soon after. Lonely and miserable, Mary turned for comfort to the religion that had sustained her mother. In a stroke of fate, however, Henry's much-longed-for son died in his teens, leaving Mary the legitimate heir to the throne. It was, she felt, a sign from God--proof that England should return to the Catholic Church. Swayed by fanatical advisors and her own religious fervor, Mary made horrific examples of those who failed to embrace the Church, earning her the immortal nickname "Bloody Mary." She was married only once, to her Spanish cousin Philip II--a loveless and childless marriage that brought her to the edge of madness. With In the Shadow of the Crown, Jean Plaidy brings to life the dark story of a queen whose road to the throne was paved with sorrow.
The work at hand is the only comprehensive history of Anson County, spanning over 225 years of the county's growth from a vast wilderness to a thriving industrial and agricultural community. The first third of the volume traces politics in the county. The middle portion covers Anson's social history, including education, religion, agriculture and industry, social and cultural life, etc. The final third of the book provides biographical sketches of scores of Anson "Men and Women of Note" and a number of source record collections of great import to genealogists.
Mansfield Park is in essence a tapestry of allusions to various works of literature and events in history to which Jane Austen left abundant "clues." This book is about finding and interpreting those "clues." Works of literature alluded to include, among others, Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost. Events in history alluded to include the slavery issue of Jane Austen's day, the American Revolution, the Battle of Actium, the Battle of Trafalgar and the then-looming War of 1812.
This fascinating work provides state-of-the-art information on phenolic compounds in fruits. Written in a concise format, it covers qualitative aspects by demonstrating the diversity of phenolic features in the major fruits of economic importance. It extensively covers the role played by phenolic compounds in the quality of fruits, with regard to organoleptic characteristics and also as a parameter involved in enzymatic browning and other modifications which take place during fruit processing. This easy-to-read resource particularly emphasizes beverages made from fruits and the use of phenolic compounds in the detection of adulteration. This reference is indispensable to researchers in fundamental fields (plant physiologists, phytochemists, biochemists) as well as engineers and technologists working on practical applications in fruits.
Melba Bradley had not been out of Chattanooga, Tennessee in her life. But having just graduated from four years of nursing school, she decided to take a vacation before settling into a job and working herself to death for the rest of her life. And the place she was going to see on her first out—of-state trip ever was New York City, New York. After all, she had family there; her father Jack’s brother Cubon lived there with his wife Eileen and their daughters Verlanda and Trina. In all of Melba’s twenty two years, it had always been the New York Bradleys that had flown down to see them in Chattanooga, but because it had been five years since their last flight down, Melba thought she’d go against the grain and fly up to see them for once. And Verlanda had assured her that once there, she was going to show her all New York City had to offer. And that was Verlanda’s intention. Out of a vacation that is meant to last for two weeks, Melba enjoys three glorious days as Verlanda shows her all the New York City sights and introduces to her all her sophisticated friends. And one of those friends is a nail technician named Judy who works for Verlanda’s best friend Niecey’s Hair Salon, who’s a palmistry freak on the side and reads the palms of both Verlanda and Melba, telling them what to expect in their near futures. For Verlanda, she’s going on a trip, while Melba is going to meet a man-—although under very dangerous circumstances. Melba doesn’t believe that for a minute. But she wonders when they return home to find her Uncle Cubon distressed by a phone call from his mother in Philadelphia stating she had to go into the hospital for tests and needed to have someone at her home to receive a package she is expecting to arrive in a couple of days, and Cubon naturally asks Verlanda, who has no choice other than go to Philadelphia and housesit for her grandmother. Melba sees her to the bus station and returns to her cousin’s home with the promise to her to stay with her parents until Verlanda gets back in the couple of days, since the New York element can be dangerous for a tourist not schooled in its ways. Only problem is that Verlanda did not tell her that because of something she did a week before her arrival, her innocent hick cousin from the Tennessee sticks is about to walk into a trap that’s going to land her in some very dangerous circumstances. Will Napoleon be able to save her? Melba woke up hours later to find herself in a small room devoid of everything but a small table and a chair. She sat in her coat in the chair, her hands and feet tied, her mouth bound with strong cloth tape, wondering where she was and how long she had been bound there. Better yet, she wondered who had kidnapped her and in fact who would want to. The growling of her stomach came to remind her that it was time for a meal, Melba didn’t know whether breakfast, lunch or dinner. Thanks to her hands being tied behind her back and to the chair, she couldn’t see her watch to know what time it was and there was no clock in the small room to alert her otherwise. Which meant that she was going to have to wait for whoever had left her there to come for her and that could be another long hour’s wait, if it wasn’t the person’s intention for her to die there altogether. She wished she could rub her neck, where a sharp pain registered from too much uncomfortable sitting. She wondered if it was Monday or maybe Tuesday, Melba had no way of knowing just how long she had been tied in the chair. If only she could scream she might be able to claim someone’s attention, alert them to the fact that she had come to, but that was made impossible by the strong tape covering her mouth. Unless.... Taking a deep breath, Melba began to force shrill sounds from her throat as she were screaming with her mouth closed. Louder, until her throat ached from the strain and she was forced to stop. Thankfully for
The first Architect of the Capitol, William Thornton, was raised in England and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Dr. Thornton traveled extensively on a study tour in Europe before briefly practicing medicine in Philadelphia (1786-1790) where he met and married Anna Maria Brodeau. His descendants can now be found across the United States, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois and Florida. Originally from Yorkshire, England the name Thornton means ""thorn hill.
The official guide to the ever-growing Bay Area Ridge Trail, a proposed 400-mile route that circles the ridgeline of the San Francisco Bay, crossing over nine counties. Five new trails and 13 more miles await discovery in this new edition, bringing the mileage of the completed Ridge Trail to 225.
This will help us customize your experience to showcase the most relevant content to your age group
Please select from below
Login
Not registered?
Sign up
Already registered?
Success – Your message will goes here
We'd love to hear from you!
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.