Ohio Books

This is the quiet, intense story of an adolescent girl who struggles to gain autonomy in an oppressive family and narrow-minded town north of the arctic circle in Norway. The story (originally published in 1926) is set in the narrow confines of the bourgeoisie at the end of the nineteenth century, and the desperation of the main character, Alberte, is palpable. Cora Sandel (pseudonym for Sara Fabricius, 1880-1974) is considered to be one of the greatest Scandinavian novelists of the twentieth century, but is virtually unknown abroad. Despite the seriousness of the novel, it manages to delight most readers because of the brilliance of Sandel's prose. A must read for folks who love twentieth century women writers.

Ann received her doctorate from George Washington University, her Master's degree from Cornell University, and taught literature at Marymount College in Arlington, Virginia, and later at Georgetown University. She became an antiques dealer in 1972, specializing today in out of print books on glass and lighting, and Weller pottery.

Valerie Strong is a woman who has seemingly led an enviable life. Her love of plants and nature in general is so evident and well-stated. She has an eye not only for plants, but design, architecture, stonework, and so on. Her love of gardening has allowed her to meet and make friends with interesting poeple who get so much satisfaction in sharing their ideas (and sweat and muscle power) to complete a job that will perhaps allow others to nurture their appreciation for gardening. As I prepare to revamp my Ohio yard this Spring, I will make good use of the practical ideas as well as the gardening philosophy that Valerie espouses in this lovely book.

As a transplant from NY to Alliance, Ohio I shortly realized what I missed most was a sense of history with my new surroundings. This book was so interesting and informative about our new hometown.

Professor Borowiec's photographs are like little delicious desserts for the brain. Each one is to be savored and almost every one of them gave my imagination a complete workout. The photographs of houses and streets made my mind say "Who lives here?", "What is around the corner?", "What would it be like to live here?" "What would I experience looking out of the window of the house on the hill?". I wanted to jump into the photographs to experience the whole body mood and feeling of them. Anyone who likes to study a photograph thoroughly to gain everything it has to offer will love this book. A wonderful experience. Thank you Professor Borowiec!

This is an excellent cookbook.The Black Forest Pork Chops recipe is worth the price of the book. There are also very unusual chicken recipes. I have not tried any recipe in this book that did not become a family favorite!

Excellent, make sure you also read "England, First and Last", the sequel; you will be unable to put these down.

Note: This book was later published in a paperback edition by the University of Oklahoma Press under the title JAMES PATTIE'S WEST: The Dream & the Reality. Why the title was changed is unclear.

James Pattie is remembered solely for a book he published in 1831 entitled THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF JAMES O. PATTIE. The book recounted his experiences as a trapper and wanderer in the Far West between 1825 and 1830, experiences he shared with his traveling companion, his father Sylvester. After trapping throughout New Mexico and Arizona, the men journeyed to California where Sylvester died in [1828]. After continuing on to San Francisco, James boarded a ship for Mexico, across which he walked by way of Mexico City, and then boarded another ship on the Gulf for New Orleans. Destitute, he was able to borrow $40 from Senator Josiah Johnston, a family friend, to pay for passage aboard a steamboat to Cincinnati. It was there that he met publisher Timothy Flint, who published Pattie's narrative.

Since the book was first published it has held the attention of historians and others interested in first-hand accounts of the early West. Often it has been disparaged as a work filled with inaccuracies, half-truths, and tall tales; it was even claimed that Pattie, with Flint's help, made the whole thing up. Richard Batman has taken a fine-toothed comb to the Narrative with the purpose of separating fact from fiction wherever possible. He is able to show that quite a bit of what Pattie wrote is indeed based in fact. His descriptions of the geography he traveled over are often remarkably accurate. Batman wonders if Pattie kept a diary of some kind, since certain details (a rainstorm, for example, that can be verified from other journals that cite the event) are too specifically drawn to be recalled years later from memory. Where he errs the most is in his depictions of his own actions and responses. Zelig-like, Pattie blended in with the background scenery, rarely if ever making an impression on those he encountered (one trapper who spent time with him remembered his horse but not him). Yet in the Narrative he puts himself in the forefront and gives himself all kinds of heroic (at least "manly") qualities. Many of these incidents occurred in California where Pattie felt he was treated with great indignities; Batman is quick to point out where they might have been figments of his imagination. He also fills out Pattie's life, making the book a biography of the man. Unfortunately, but typically it seems, Pattie vanishes from the scene shortly after his book was published, never heard from again. Batman has done a great service with this book, not only helping to clarify a major historical record, but through his own researches adding much information about Pattie and life in the Far West at the end of the 1820s. Highly recommended for anyone interested in this period in American history.

Compiled and edited by Emily Foster, American Grit: A Woman's Letters From The Ohio Frontier is an inherently fascinating collection of correspondence from the first half of the nineteenth century, written by Anna Briggs Bentley, a devout Quaker wife determined not to lose contact with her mother and sister. Filled with emotion, a willingness to work, love for her family and her many children, and a great deal more, American Grit provides contemporary readers with a compelling and enjoyable look through a kind of "window of time" at daily life in rugged terrain. A fine work enhanced with brief annotations for clarity, American Grit is very highly recommended for Women's Studies and American History Studies collections and reading lists.

Reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's Notebooks is a very different experience than reading those of Henry James, Steinbeck, Thomas Mann (Diaries), Robert Musil or even those published by Reynolds Price. The self mannered awareness that the future will prize their "private" thoughts and ideas is absent. These were truly private workbooks. Hawthorne writes in full voice as someone for whom communication is vital and difficult. Open this work anywhere and read what sounds like the inner voice of someone practiced at concealing his thoughts publicly. Expansive, suggestive, and illuminating for all those who would like to know more of the deep thought and artfullness that went into his major works. Some of his working ideas for stories sound absolutely modern. One story idea develops the possibility of having two men talking and discussing their difficulties while waiting and waiting for someone who never comes. They don't know what to do, so they continue to wait and discussing the one who never comes. Sound familar? A little like "Waiting for Godot"? If you love great literature and if you love Hawthorne, then dig deep and buy this expensive but magnificent book.