Ohio Books

When is a prose memoir nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry? When it is written by the talented Mr. Murphy and punctuated with poems that arise out of the narrative like crops from the earth, concentrating it into a sweet or bitter nourishment. The memoir tells how Murphy's family came to farm in the Red River Valley bordering Minnesota and North Dakota, starting with his grandfather from New York, who broke the virgin bluestem with a two-bottom plough. Full of both personal memories and the sweep of history, the narrative depicts a way of life at the mercy of drought and flood and constrained by national politics and now global economics. In this environment, strength of character is not a virtue but a given. With vivid portraits of his grandparents, parents, and neighbors, Murphy humanizes an often unforgiving landscape. It is amazing to come upon his poems-each one distilling the literal truth with acute accuracy. Anyone interested in the distinct power of poetry will want to see how prose and poetry interact. Six color woodcuts by artist Charles Beck make this book glow.

When I was young, my father farmed for a time. I had almost forgotten how it feels for one's livelyhood to be so closely tethered to the weather and economy, so much that one storm (or lack of) can throw one's life into chaos. Say it doesn't rain for a month, starting today, so you're not going to get a third of your regular salary. That's farming; very arbitrary. Set the Ploughshare Deep reminded me of how this feels.

Murphy's writing is simple, spare and excellent. He has a wry sense of humor that injects itself into his stories and poems occasionally, and an amiable voice. He also inspires incredible emotion, especially when he writes of the lives, manners and deaths of his beloved hunting dogs. An elegy for one of his dogs, Dee, broke my heart. An account of another dog's reaction to her puppy's death is equally moving. Murphy is excellent at what he does.

This is a terrific book that I return to over and over. While the writing itself is not dramatic, it is filled with his love of the river and shantyboating. To paraphrase Wendell Barry, Hubbard makes practical what Thoreau made theoretical. Read it with Payne Hollow.

Shantyboat chronicles the adventures of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, who in the early 1950's, built a wooden houseboat (or shantyboat) out of a demolished house and drifted down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Spanning several years, the book describes winters spent drifting freely with the current and summers foraging for or growing what was needed. Much more than a travelogue, the journey is an experiment in living just outside the confines of a newly emerging technological civillization, but still in a fully "civillized" way. Their lives were hardly lived in seclusion. Instead they preferred the richness of friends, good meals gathered from abandoned or empty lands, and art: Harlan was a painter, Anna a concert pianist. The story of their days drifting is often filled with anecdotes about weather, fishing, or dogs, and slowly draws the reader in with a steady seasonal rhythm. Their time on the river represents the last days of the shantyboater, a breed of free spirit that quickly dissappeared after the second world war. Industrial growth along the waterways, large new dams, and toxic pollutants ensured the end of a tradition of free living. Today, our world continues to grapple with issues of technology and its impact on what makes us human. "Shantyboat" offers an alternative, or perhaps a perspective on what is really important.

This book is a must for any Shawnee collector. The information and pictures are extensive and laid out in easy to read chapters. She covers all Shawnee, from cookie jars to ashtrays. I take this with me on all Shawnee excursions. It is large and somewhat heavy, definitely not a "pocket guide".

Everything you ever wanted to know about collecting this fine pottery is in here. Very impressed about the history and how complete it is. Pam did an EXCELLENT job in researching. Easy to follow with great pictures. You will never regret getting a copy of this book. It is WONDERFUL.

"She Rode The Rails" is based on the true life of traveling photographer, Mrs. Mary Jane Wyatt. A contemporary of J. B Silvis and pioneer photographer, Solomon Butcher, she was the only woman to own and operate a traveling photograph car on the Nebraska railroad in the late 1800's. She ran studios in Roseville, Il, and in Nebraska towns for over three decades. Mary Jane took many portraits of early pioneers and western landscapes, some of which are included in this book and published for the first time.

The story unfolds as her son, Charles Sears, remembers her life. He recalls how Mary Jane began as an unwed mother working as a lowly housemaid in Ohio to become a successful traveling photographer in Nebraska. With the support of her husband, sheriff and Burlington Missouri River RR engineer, Andrew A. Wyatt, she operated several galleries in a time when women were expected to stay home.

This book was awarded an Editor's Choice Award. The following quote from an independent review of the book:

"The author seems to have done meticulous research about Mary Jane and the time period in which she lived. The information about photography and trains is quite interesting, as is the background on real hardships Union soldiers experienced during the Civil War. This book will find its place in our national memory."

This book has received an Editor's Choice award. A quote from one of the independent reviews:

"The author seems to have done meticulous research about Mary Jane and the time period in which she lived. The information about photography and trains is quite interesting, as is the background on real hardships Union soldiers experienced during the Civil War. This book will find its place in our national memory."

This book is awsome. If you are a Buckeye or college football fan this is a must have!

A fine book about a great man as written by a great man - Todd Skipton.

My wife and I both read this book. It convinced us that we should stop and think of what is happening in our country. We are looking forward to the next book by this author.

This is the best novel I've read in years! I couldn't put it down. The book makes you think while being entertaining at the same time. I bet they make a movie of it. If you like suspense, mystery, and political intrigue don't miss this one. I can't wait for the sequel!

This book grabs you right away, just in seeing what the subject is. It is certainly something which I have never really thought about before, discussing soft porn and how it has been portrayed. Mr. Andrews keeps it interesting and makes you want to keep turning the pages.

This is an excellent book on a strange subject -- soft core porn. I am hardly a porn afficianado but I found this book fascinating due to Andrew's careful treatment of softcore. Too often, Andrews argues, softcore porn is seen as a 'watered down' version of hard core pornography. Against this view he points out that softcore has its own distinct aesthetic. The similarity between soft core and more 'high brow' forms of art then becomes a source of anxiety to high-brow (and especially feminist) critics. As a result the book is about more than just pornography -- it is about how American culture categorizes things as 'sophisticated' or 'smut' and it demonstrates just how complex the line between these two things is and how it has been drawn (and defended) in the US today.

Now, to be honest, the book is an academic monograph -- it is not an easy-to-read pop piece. That said, Andrew's prose is easy to read by academic standards, with a wonderful economy of expression that conveys highly complex analysis in only slightly-complex prose. But what makes this book so great is not Andrew's analytical chops -- which, to be sure, he's got in spades -- but his stupendous erudition. His mastery of the genre -- the filmography lists hundreds of movies he has watched -- and his unparalleled knowledge of ths history of pornography is truly astonishing. Like an entomologist who knows every detail of 'his species' or a Shakespeare scholar who can provide paragraphs of commentary for each line in Hamlet, Andrews simply appears to have acheived that rare feat: total knowledge of an entire genre. And this gives him the ability to understand and present the genre's relevance for our understanding of all forms of art and media.

It is difficult to believe that something as... well.. _smutty_ as soft core pornography could have something to teach us about media and society in America, but that is exactly what David Andrews manages to convince us of in this tasty book on a tasteless topic.

Vernon R. Alden, a multifacited person and scholar, left an enduduring legacy at Ohio University. As president he aspired to build a university of national prominence, and he pursued those aspirations with a passion. He helped to forge the institution that many of us know today - a beautiful cosmopolitan campus born out of his international influence, his sense of style, and his ability to get things done. You will enjoy reading Vern Alden's thoughts and recollections. Prepare to do so with a smile, appreciating his enormous accomplishment and penatrating personality.

Vernon R. Alden, a multifacited person and scholar, left an enduduring legacy at Ohio University. As president he aspired to build a university of national prominence, and he pursued those aspirations with a passion. He helped to forge the institution that many of us know today - a beautiful cosmopolitan campus born out of his international influence, his sense of style, and his ability to get things done. You will enjoy reading Vern Alden's thoughts and recollections. Prepare to do so with a smile, appreciating his enormous accomplishment and penatrating personality.

This book is not a book on technique or a "how to be more like me" book. It is a book that outlines spiritual principles that all of us need to know as we serve the church and God. This has been one of the books that I have constantly referred to over the years and will continue to go back to.

This book updates church management to a model that works now. Too many churches still operate under a model where the minister is the absolute authority figure. Underlying spiritual principles support creating a loving, nurturing Christian team ministry where each and every member can become involved. Every ministry within the church becomes part of a support system. Even those who are difficult can find love, help and support in this model. For example, those in recovery from old hurts or substance abuse, the grief stricken, or those on the fringes of mental health have the potential to distrupt worship or interfere with church activities. They may not ready to be part of the mainstream, but there is a place for them to grow into the mainstream with God's help. This is a wonderful book, full of passion and wisdom and it comes from a man who leads a church with over 4,000 in attendance each Sunday. In other words, it is based on a highly successful ministry. He opens his heart and mind to the reader, providing information and inspiration. It's a great read!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RRDSORQ39S5FN Hello all,

This book, in it's entirety, turned me on to the nostalgia of the B&O Railroad. In fact, I am now starting my own art collection because of this wonderful book! So I went out and bought my first B&O railroad print here: http://www.nelsonartworks.net/
As far as I know, Railroad Artist Chris Nelson is the only licensed railroad artist for the B&O Railroad Museum (but I could be wrong). Take a peek...

I gave this to my Mom's husband as a birthday gift. They both loved it!