Ohio Books

Fifty tiny tales, each exquisitely told, chronicle the settling of the Ohio River Valley. Scott Russell Sanders is a fabulous storyteller who collects the curiosities that would have travelled far by word of mouth in an earlier time. Sanders calls these "tales, stories provoked by germs of fact, rather than history." The characters are mostly forgotten--Indians, surveyors and drunks, flustered judges, animals fierce and tame, gravepickers, newborns, clergy and lovers. Taken together, the stories function like a fine illustration in a history book, artfully fleshing out the facts so that our understanding is deepened. This is a perfect book for a history lover, a bedtime reader or a lover of the quirky. I was glad to find it still in print.

Stories in this book are all set in a small midwest town in Ohio. We all have our preconceptions about midwestern people, their attitudes, sensibilities and way of life. Author digs deep into their lives and psyche. By the time you finish this book, you will pretty much know about every member of this small community. People we learn about are lonely, damaged, with no prospects. They are molded by their upbringing and their first experiences in love and marriage. They all have regrets, yet they are too weak to break away and start new. It is up to young generations to try their lives outside of confines of a small city and whether or not they succeed no one will know until much, much later. These are deep stories and they will get you thinking about them for a long time after you are finished reading. An absolute classic of short american story literature.

Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio" tells the story of lives lost in the dark. The citizens of Anderson's fictional Winesburg all harbor mysterious secrets and are internally conflicted. In a series of vignettes that do not follow a chronological timeframe, tragic lives full of lonliness, longing and regret are delineated in plain prose. One man, George Willard, stands out above the rest of these "grotesque" characters of Winesburg, and, in the last vignette titled "Depature", it says he goes out to, "meet the adventure of life."

Written around the time of World War I, Anderson paints a lonely picture of the American small town. At a time when the nation was rapidly becoming a large, homogenized community, "Winesburg, Ohio" answers the sentiments felt by individuals living in small towns not yet assimilated by the emerging mainstream culture. For the marginalized denizens of Winesburg, Anderson portrays the small town as anachronistic in its isolation. This isolation reveals itself individually in the stories of the lives of the characters as told in the vignettes.

Wise Guide has done an excellant job creating a book that can be used by anybody to truly experience game day at Ohio Stadium to the fullest. Whether a rookie to the traditions, or a grizzled veteran, this book covers almost every Buckeye tradition that's related to game day. This book is perfect for fans who would like to pass on the great tradition of Ohio State football to others who have never had the pleasure of attending a game, or who may be unaware of the many wonderful experiences that can be had by being a Buckeye fan in Columbus on game day.

Women Surviving the Holocaust In Spite of Horror presents the experiences of ten female Holocaust survivors. Each one tells her story in a first person interview, the paragraphs of which are broken up by editor, compiler and author's Jutta T. Bendremer's summaries of the milestones of life. The tales are unflinchingly honest in their portrayal of unspeakable horror, but also reveal determination and boundless strength within the hearts of those who suffered. A powerful, poignant, and welcome addition to Holocaust literature shelves.

Dr. Lynn Alexander's recently published book, Women, Work, and Representation, asks why needleworkers represent working women in Victorian fiction and art. She explores the reasons readers do not see female mill workers in literature and art, and why, in an age that prized femininity and domesticity, women were working. Alexander's research and writing took a little more than five years, both in the United States and England.

The simple answers are that the economy was bad, so some families needed more than the male head of the household could provide, and some women had lost their husbands and had to provide for their families.

The Victorian period was an age of men providing for the women, but where there was little or no income in a family where there were marriageable females, there was no dowry and few prospects for a good marriage. Thus the wives and daughters had to work. The only acceptable positions for a female were as governess or needleworker; however, a governess had to be well educated, and many females did not have the necessary qualifications. No one wanted to think that a woman from an upper or middle class family had to work and certainly not in a mill or as a prostitute. Being a needleworker was seen as an extension of femininity and the family; it did not blend the spheres of men and women, thus posing no threat to the men or to the family as it was perceived. Women did work in the mills, but in doing so, they developed muscles and attitudes similar to the men, which made the men feel their way of life was threatened.

Alexander also explores the fact that being a neeleworker was a deadly occupation. The book cites statistics showing the age and cause of death for needleworkers. Consumption, blindness, asthma, and allergies were common, as was death in the mid-twenties from these things. Writers and artists who began to note the long hours, sometimes as much as 72 hours at a time, low pay, and resulting illnesses of the needleworkers slowly triggered the need for reform in conditions of the working class women.

Although the target audience for Women, Work, and Representation is academics and students working with the Victorian novel and art, anyone with an interest in history and women's issues should like this book.

This book is the best that I have read on the origins of apartheid in South Africa. It is a carefully-written and quite lucid explanation of the politics and unionism of black and white workers during World War II. Alexander illustrates how the degree and kinds of racial unity among South African workers during this period have been drasticaly underestimated by historians, but his analysis of the complex phenomena of working-class racism is full and nuanced. He has done an amazing amount of research into the political economy of the South African state at a number of different levels, and smoothly integrated this with a subtle and interesting social history of workers. This book serves as an excellent example of this kind of analysis for US historians of labor.

I just finished reading the book and let me preface this by saying that I am John Haueisen's sister, but this really is a VERY entertaining and informative book on Worthington, Ohio and its history. The book focuses on two primary players in Worthington - James Kilbourn and Thomas Worthington. In terms of history, it is a page turner and kept me in suspense while wondering if Tom Worthington would ever find the understanding and acclaim that he so desired. For Civil War buffs, the section on the battle of Shiloh does provide a great deal of information reflecting another viewpoint as to who the better soldier was - Col. Worthington, or Gen. Sherman, on whom history casts the better light. The book does of wonderful job of balancing the two viewpoints with facts and historical evidence.

Better yet, the book is a superb collection of information, both historical and current, of the delightful city of Worthington. Because of Worthington's connection to such a rich historical past, I think it would be fantastic reading for all students in Worthington City Schools. How many smaller cities have such a great resource right at hand? Since it is written in such a light, but intelligent manner, students would not get bogged in down in the fact that it is a history book, and would find that the anecdotal-like stories make for quick reading. It would be fun for any resident of Worthington to read as there are so many photographs of past and current buildings and events that are directly recognizable, which makes reading about them even more entertaining and enjoyable. I was actually sad when I finished the book and found myself wanting to learn more about the history contained within it. I hope John finds more little towns and tales to tell and write about!

I just finished reading the book and let me preface this by saying that I am John Haueisen's sister, but this really is a VERY entertaining and informative book on Worthington, Ohio and its history. The book focuses on two primary players in Worthington - James Kilbourn and Thomas Worthington. In terms of history, it is a page turner and kept me in suspense while wondering if Tom Worthington would ever find the understanding and acclaim that he so desired. For Civil War buffs, the section on the battle of Shiloh does provide a great deal of information reflecting another viewpoint as to who the better soldier was - Col. Worthington, or Gen. Sherman, on whom history casts the better light. The book does of wonderful job of balancing the two viewpoints with facts and historical evidence.

Better yet, the book is a superb collection of information, both historical and current, of the delightful city of Worthington. Because of Worthington's connection to such a rich historical past, I think it would be fantastic reading for all students in Worthington City Schools. How many smaller cities have such a great resource right at hand? Since it is written in such a light, but intelligent manner, students would not get bogged in down in the fact that it is a history book, and would find that the anecdotal-like stories make for quick reading. It would be fun for any resident of Worthington to read as there are so many photographs of past and current buildings and events that are directly recognizable, which makes reading about them even more entertaining and enjoyable. I was actually sad when I finished the book and found myself wanting to learn more about the history contained within it. I hope John finds more little towns and tales to tell and write about!

For anyone from or still here in Akron this is fun book to have. You will be sharing it with many family and friends. It will certainly bring back memories esp. to some of the older folks that see it and still remember Akron back then. I have bought several for gifts and everyone treasures it.